*Photo from Covering the Corner*
The battle of Ohio has once again gone to the Cleveland Indians. Wilson Ramos homered, Bradley Zimmer hit a 471 foot homer, and the Indians defeated the Cincinnati Reds by a 9-3 score on Monday night.
Zimmer said of his homer that "I've always enjoyed hitting here. Some guys have a visual thing, the batter's eye, whatever. I just feel comfortable at home. There's something to be said about playing at home, regardless, in front of your own fans. I think I just see the ball well here."
The game was a one game makeup of a previously rained out game, but it makes sure the Ohio cup remains in Cleveland. The Indians have won it every year since 2012, as the Reds have largely been a below average team in that time, while the Indians have experienced a few years of playoff runs, including making the world series in 2016.
Acting Indians manager DeMarlo Hale said of Zimmer's homer that it was a "Well-struck ball, too. And it was off the lefty, too. If you think about it, he stayed in there and had a good swing path to it, and those are some of the things he can do. We talked about his skill set and his versatility on both sides of the ball, so I was happy to see that’s coming out more and more."
Myles Straw got the Indians started in the first inning, tying the game 1-1 when he scored on a fielders choice by Franmil Reyes. In the second, Ramos hit a two run homer to right field, making it a 3-1 lead for the Indians. In the 3rd, Ramirez hit an RBI triple, and then scored on a groundout from Zimmer, upping the Indians lead to 5-1. In the 4th, it became 8-1 Indians on an RBI triple from Amed Rosario and a two run homer from Ramirez. In the 7th, Zimmer put the exclamation point on the game with his tape measure homer.
For the Reds, Joey Votto hit an RBI single in the top of the first, scoring Jonathan India to give the Reds an early 1-0 lead to start. In the 5th, India came around to score on a sac fly off the bat of Nick Castellanos, cutting the lead to 8-2. In the 9th, Eugenio Suarez scored on a Tucker Barnhart double to make it 9-3 Indians.
Justin Garza got the win for the Indians, improving to 2-0 on the season with two innings of work, due to a short start by Sam Hentges, who allowed one run over just two innings pitched. Blake Parker and Nick Wittgren each added two innings of relief, and Nick Sandlin shut things down in the 9th, despite allowing a run.
Luis Castillo got the loss for the Reds in a shaky start, falling to 6-11 on the season. Castillo allowed 8 runs on 7 hits and 3 walks, striking out two hitters in 3 1/3 innings pitched. Justin Wilson was responsible for the Zimmer home run in his one inning of work. Jeff Hoffman added 2 2/3 innings of relief, and Lucas Sims added one inning as well.
Reds manager David Bell said of Castillo's start that "He didn’t throw bad by any means. If anything, maybe the command wasn’t quite as sharp as it has been pretty much every time he’s pitched for a long time now. To be super critical, maybe the command was off a little bit. And against any team we play, if your command is off a little bit, sometimes you get in trouble. I wouldn’t put any more on it than that. He’s healthy, he looks good, and he’ll be back out there next time."
The Indians start a series with the Oakland Athletics tonight, with Triston McKenzie getting the opening game start. The Reds hit the road and face the Atlanta Braves, with Sonny Gray getting the start for Cincinnati.
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