Cleveland Guardians at Cincinnati Reds

· Major League Baseball

Cleveland Guardians

43-23, 22-15 Away

Final
2 - 4

Cincinnati Reds

33-35, 18-19 Home

Jeimer Candelario homers twice, Reds beat Guardians 4-2 to split Ohio Cup opening series

Candelario had a 404-foot solo shot to center in the first inning and hit a three-run homer with one out in the sixth inning that chased Tanner Bibee (4-2) after the Cleveland right-hander had logged a career-high 11 strikeouts.

“Honestly, (Candelario) was locked in all night,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “He had great at-bats against Tanner.”

Nick Lodolo (7-2) had another quality start for the Reds, allowing two Cleveland runs and seven hits with six strikeouts through six innings.

“It was definitely a grind — the whole night, to be honest,” Lodolo said. "I just kept my head down and kept trying to make pitches. I was definitely fighting myself out there a little bit.

“I was able to keep us in the game there, and then Candy single-handedly won us the game."

Lodolo got into a jam in the third, but it could have been worst. He hit Josh Naylor to load the bases and walked in a run before getting Andrés Giménez on a groundout.

Lucas Sims and Sam Moll each pitched a scoreless inning, and Alexis Diaz got Cleveland in order in the ninth for his 14th save.

Bibee gave up four runs and four hits as the Reds snapped the Guardians' three-game winning streak.

Candelario has hit in 10 of 11 games so far in June with five home runs.

“I'm getting there,” the 30-year-old third baseman said. “Today was a great day, for sure. I'll take it. I got to keep going. Keep going.”

Reds manager David Bell knew Candelario was capable, even after a slow start in his first season in Cincinnati.

“(He's) just settling in,” Bell said. “We acquired Jeimer because he's been a good player in this league for a while now. And to Jeimer's credit, he just stayed with it. He trusted himself. He worked really hard. He's in a position right now where he's able to fight and have great at-bats.”

The Guardians and Reds played in front of a loud sellout crowd of 42,427 on Elly De La Cruz bobblehead night at Great American Ball Park. The Cincinnati shortstop didn't give fans much to cheer about that the plate. He struck out three times and flied out.

Guardians: After a day off Thursday, Cleveland goes to Toronto for a three-game series. Left-hander Logan Allen (6-3, 5.57) was set to start Friday night against Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gausman (5-4, 4.00 ERA).

Reds: After a day off, Cincinnati opens a weekend series with the NL Central leading Brewers on Friday night. The Reds will send right-hander Hunter Greene (4-2, 3.61) against Milwaukee right-hander Freddy Peralta (4-3, 3.95).

This story has been updated to correct the pitcher to Tanner Bibee, not Tyler Bibbee.

How can I watch Cleveland Guardians vs. Cincinnati Reds?

TV Channel: Guardians at Reds 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on ESPN+.
Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Reds: 43.8%

Guardians: 56.2%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Ramírez popped out to second.
	9th Inning	Manzardo flied out to right.
	9th Inning	Manzardo hit for Freeman
	9th Inning	Kwan popped out to shortstop.
	9th Inning	Díaz relieved Moll
	8th Inning	Fraley grounded out to first.

Statistics

CLE		CIN
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
2	Hit By Pitch	0
11	Ground Balls	10
8	Strikeouts	13
2	Runs Batted In	4
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
7	Hits	6
0	Stolen Bases	0
4	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
2	Runs	4
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
0	Sacrifice Flies	0
33	At Bats	30
0	Home Runs	2
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
18	Runners Left On Base	9
0	Triples	0
0	Game Winning RBIs	1
0	Intentional Walks	0
1	Doubles	0
14	Fly Balls	7
0	Caught Stealing	0
144	Pitches	142
0	Games Started	0
1	Pinch At Bats	1
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
0	Is Qualified In Steals	0
8	Total Bases	12
39	Plate Appearances	32
0.0	Projected Home Runs	324.0
1	Extra Base Hits	2
3.3	Runs Created	3.0
.212	Batting Average	.200
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.242	Slugging Percentage	.400
.152	Secondary Average	.267
.333	On Base Percentage	.250
.576	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.650
0.8	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	1.4
3.4	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	3.4
17.0	Batter Rating	28.0
0.0	At Bats Per Home Run	15.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
3.69	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	4.44
.030	Isolated Power	.200
0.50	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.15
.103	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.063
-.061	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	.067
4.0	Runs Produced	8.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.4	Patience Ratio	0.5
0.3	Balls In Play Average	0.3
71.0	MLB Rating	76.3
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0