CLEVELAND — As far as the Indians were concerned, it was about time they had a game like Friday’s.
The 9-2 victory over Cincinnati was as one might expect from the score: a one-sided win which the host Tribe controlled from early on, with no late drama.
Jeremy Sowers provided the backbone with seven strong innings, while being supported by a 12-hit attack. Ryan Garko provided a two-run homer in the fourth, and Victor Martinez added a fifth-inning solo shot to go with a sacrifice fly two frames earlier. Grady Sizemore added RBI doubles in the third and fifth, respectively, and Shin-Soo Choo delivered a two-run single in the sixth.
Starter Aaron Harang (5-8, 3.95 ERA) was tagged for seven of the runs, with the other two coming at the expense of Jared Burton.
The two ballclubs are now tied at two wins each in the battle for the Ohio Cup trophy, with two games remaining.
Sowers (2-5, 5.44) turned in his best and longest start of the season, as he gave up just six hits and a walk. Five of the hits came in the seventh and eighth innings, as he faced two batters in the latter frame before being removed.
“That was big for us; it was big for him,” manager Eric Wedge said of Sowers’ outing. “What caught my eye — and I talked to (pitching coach) Carl (Willis) about it — was just how aggressive he was in the middle innings.
“That’s been the hump for him — the fourth and fifth inning.”
Sowers, whose only prior triumph had come in a five-inning relief appearance, had only one prior appearance this year in which he worked more than five frames.
“It’s hard to assess (whether I’m past that problem) after one outing,” Sowers, who went 7-4, 3.57 here as a rookie in 2006, said. “But it’s definitely a step in the right direction.”
Jensen Lewis and Tony Sipp took it the rest of the way for Cleveland (31-44), which had lost eight of the prior nine games, some in ways they would like to forget,
Sipp struck out the only three batters he faced, giving Tribe pitchers 11 in the contest.
The Indians got their other run on an error by Brandon Phillips in the fifth inning.
Everyone in Cleveland’s starting lineup had at least one hit except for Travis Hafner. Jamey Carroll, Choo, Peralta and Garko all collected two.
“Jhonny’s really been swinging the ball a lot better,” Wedge said.
“Jhonny’s a fantastic player. He’s a great kid. He has a very consistent pace to him that sometimes is misunderstood. Sometimes he gets away from the approach that he knows that works.”
The Reds (35-37) scored on Jonny Gomes’ seventh-inning single and Willy Taveras’ double in the eighth.
Carlos Fisher and Arthur Rhodes also worked for Cincinnati.
Garko, who had missed the last couple starts with a sprained wrist, was removed for a pinch-hitter in the seventh after the wrist hurt when swinging. However, Wedge related that Garko is fine.
Wedge related that Lewis will be optioned today to make room on the roster for Jose Veras.
Goldman is a freelance writer from South Euclid.
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