Reds 1 - 2 Guardians
Final
  for this game

Indians clip Reds on Kipnis' late hit

May 24, 2015 - 12:32 AM Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Jason Kipnis hit an RBI double in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the streaking Cleveland Indians to a 2-1 victory over the slumping Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.

Kipnis scored the other Cleveland run and his clutch hit helped the Indians extend their winning streak to a season-high five games. They will look to sweep this three-game interleague series on Sunday.

The Reds recorded a hit in each of the first seven innings against Cleveland starter Corey Kluber (2-5), but managed to produce only one run. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner gave up nine hits and struck out seven with no walks in eight innings.

Cleveland manager Terry Francona was going to let Kluber go for the complete game, but exercised caution when Kluber's hamstring tightened up in the eighth.

"There's no way I'm going to let him go out there. It didn't seem to make any sense to me," Francona said.

Anthony DeSclafani was locked in a duel with Kluber and limited the Indians to a run on three hits in seven innings. He struck out six and walked two.

"I was just really happy to keep my team in the game," DeSclafani said. "Also, the defense played outstanding."

Brandon Phillips, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce each had two hits for Cincinnati, which has been outscored 49-17 during a season-worst seven-game skid.

Reds manager Bryan Price was ejected during the exchange of lineup cards prior to the start of the game.

Tony Cingrani (0-1) relieved DeSclafani to begin the eighth and Roberto Perez drew a leadoff walk. After Michael Bourn bunted into a fielder's choice, Kipnis drove in the go-ahead run with a double to left-center field.

Cody Allen pitched a flawless ninth to earn his ninth save of the season.

The Reds got on the board in the second. Bruce hit a leadoff single, advanced to third base on a Brayan Pena double and scored on Zack Cozart's sacrifice fly to right field. Kluber struck out Brennan Boesch and got Billy Hamilton to fly out to center to keep the damage at one run.

Cleveland tied it with a two-out rally in the sixth. Boesch nearly made an inning-ending catch on Kipnis' sinking liner, but the ball popped out of his glove. After Carlos Santana walked, David Murphy hit a single up the middle to score Kipnis.

Votto then bailed out DeSclafani with a leaping grab of a Brandon Moss line drive at first base.

Game Notes

Reds ace Johnny Cueto will not make his next start on Sunday against the Indians because of stiffness in his right elbow. Raisel Iglesias will step in for Cueto in the series finale ... Kipnis has hit safely in 19 of 21 games this month ... The Reds fell to 1-6 against American League teams this season.






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