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Sabathia, Indians dominate intrastate rival Reds

Jun 28, 2008 - 4:26 AM By Todd Krepop PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- Grady Sizemore has found a way to make the impossible become routine.

Sizemore homered and drove in three runs and C.C. Sabathia pitched eight scoreless innings as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Cincinnati Reds, 6-0, on Friday night.

For Sizemore, it was catch two batters into the game that had everybody buzzing.

Cincinnati slugger Adam Dunn crushed a ball to deep center for what appeared to be at least a double, but Sizemore raced back and made an over-the-shoulder catch before crashing into the wall.

"I broke back and thought I had a chance at it," Sizemore said. "It bounced off the back of my glove and I was able to hold on with my bare hand. It wasn't how I planned it."

"He electrified everybody with that catch," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. "I don't think anybody thought he had a chance to make it."

While his manager thought that Sizemore didn't have a chance, Sabathia has grown to expect that type of play from the Indians' center fielder.

"He's one of the best in the game," Sabathia said. "I kind of expected him to catch it. If it is in the ballpark he has a chance to catch it."

The grab probably saved a run as, two batters later, Brandon Phillips ripped a single that Dunn could have scored on. But Sabathia struck out Jay Bruce to end the first and was almost unhittable for the rest of the night.

"That catch saved the game," Sabathia said. "It was just a great catch."

Sabathia retired 15 in a row from the second inning to the seventh. He finished his outing by striking out Ken Griffey Jr. with a 97 mile-per-hour fastball on his 116th pitch of the game.

"I was a little shaky early on," Sabathia said. "As the game went on, I worked my fastball for strikes and went from there."

"(Sabathia) threw the ball well," Griffey said. "He had everything working."

Sabathia (6-8) continued to distance himself from his early-season struggles. The burly lefthander held the Reds to four hits and struck out 11 batters. Since April 22, Sabathia has a 1.96 ERA and has lowered his overall mark from 13.50 to 3.78.

"He has looked that way for a while," Wedge said. "He is throwing the ball the way he can."

Sizemore also gave Sabathia the only run he needed by blasting Daryl Thompson's 1-0 offering deep into the right-field seats to break a scoreless tie. It was Sizemore's team leading 18th home run.

"I'm just trying to put a good swing on the ball," said Sizemore, who is second in the American League in home runs, "I'm feeling strong and I am feeling good at the plate."

Cleveland then broke open the game with a five-run sixth - highlighted by Sizemore's two-run double.

Casey Blake and Jamey Carroll each had an RBI single and Kelly Shoppach hit a sacrifice fly as well in the sixth.

Thompson (0-1) yielded four runs and eight hits in five innings in his second major league start.