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Cozart, Negron power Reds past Indians

Aug 7, 2014 - 5:38 AM Cincinnati, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Zack Cozart knocked in four runs and Kris Negron finished a triple shy of the cycle, with the duo leading the Cincinnati Reds to an 8-3 rout of the Cleveland Indians at Great American Ball Park.

Cozart delivered a three-run homer and an RBI single, while Negron ended 3- for-4 with a two-run homer and three runs scored in the Reds' seventh straight victory over their in-state rivals in Cincinnati. Jeff Frazier added a pair of hits, including a two-RBI double.

Mat Latos (4-3) aided the Reds' cause by taking a shutout into the eighth inning before being reached for three runs over his 7 2/3-frame stint.

"It's a beautiful thing, and it is because I know these guys want so badly to succeed," said Reds manager Bryan Price. "I really mean that wholeheartedly."

Danny Salazar (4-5) struck out five in four innings for Cleveland, but served up both Cozart's and Negron's homers for a total of five runs allowed.

"Overall, I thought he was better than the line score," Indians manager Terry Francona said about Salazar. "But to the bottom of the order, especially, he made two really costly mistakes."

Jason Kipnis had three of the Indians' seven hits, with Yan Gomes finishing 2- for-4 with a solo homer and Ryan Raburn contributing a two-run double.

Latos was sharp right from the outset, retiring nine straight Indians to begin the contest, and was soon working with a 3-0 lead thanks to the first of Cincinnati's two home runs.

Cozart stepped to the plate with two on and two out in the second and launched a Salazar slider off the foul pole in left to open the scoring. The blast came after Negron beat out an infield single to keep the inning alive.

Salazar briefly bounced back with a 1-2-3 third, but served up a single to Brayan Pena in the fourth that preceded Negron's deep drive over the center- field wall that staked the Reds to a 5-0 advantage.

Cincinnati extended the margin with a big seventh inning, with Negron greeting Scott Atchison with a double and coming around on a Cozart base hit for the first run of the frame. Latos followed with a single, and both he and Cozart crossed the plate on Frazier's two-out double to right that made the score 8-0.

Latos, meanwhile, had yielded just three singles and a walk before Gomes finally got the Tribe on the board with a solo homer to lead off the eighth. The right-hander later issued a walk and a Kipnis single in front of Raburn's pinch-hit double that ended Latos' night and brought Cleveland within 8-3.

Game Notes

The home team had won the last 12 meetings in this interleague series before the Reds posted a 9-2 win in Cleveland on Tuesday ... Gomes now has three homers and 11 RBI during a 12-game hitting streak ... Pena went 2-for-4 with two runs scored to extend his hitting streak to 11 games ... Latos improved to 5-0 in eight interleague starts at home since joining the Reds in 2012 ... Cleveland's Nick Swisher returned to action after a two-game absence caused by a strained right wrist, but ended 0-for-4.