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Indians-Reds Preview

May 24, 2009 - 5:16 AM By JON PALMIERI STATS Editor

Cleveland (16-27) at Cincinnati (22-19), 1:10 p.m. EDT

The Cleveland Indians couldn't have been too pleased with the early results on their 10-game road trip. Four wins in the final five contests would likely make them feel a whole lot better.

The last-place Indians seek their second consecutive series win Sunday when they close a three-game set against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park.

After opening their swing with a victory at Tampa Bay, Cleveland (17-27) lost three straight to the Rays before dropping Tuesday's series opener to Kansas City. The Indians, though, rebounded to take the final two games against the Royals and have split the first two contests with their intrastate rivals.

Limited to one first-inning run in a loss Friday, Cleveland's lineup was much more productive Saturday night, overcoming a pair of deficits en route to a 7-6 victory.

Asdrubal Cabrera drove in the tiebreaking run in the eighth inning and Mark DeRosa homered and had four RBIs as the Indians ended a five-game losing streak at Cincinnati and beat the Reds (22-20) for only the second time in the last nine meetings.

David Huff was hit hard in his second major league start but Cleveland's bullpen worked six scoreless innings after he departed.

"I think it's starting to come together," manager Eric Wedge said. "We've got to make sure the starters and the bullpen work together. That's what has to happen next."

Cincinnati dropped to 2-3 on a nine-game homestand despite an impressive return to the lineup by Joey Votto, who homered in his first two at-bats after missing four games with an inner-ear infection. Votto felt dizzy during a West Coast trip and underwent three days of medical tests to reach the diagnosis.

"That's him," manager Dusty Baker said. "He's got that short stroke. That was a great comeback game for Joey."

On the night one of their best hitters returned, the Reds may not have lost another of their big run producers for an undetermined time. Second baseman Brandon Phillips - the team leader with 34 RBIs - left Saturday after jamming his right thumb while fielding a grounder in the eighth.

The Indians have every reason to feel confident with Cliff Lee (2-5, 2.90 ERA) set to take the mound. Since struggling in his first two starts this season, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner has been excellent. He has a 1.57 ERA in his last six starts but is 1-3 because his teammates have supported him with only 10 total runs.

Lee stood to win his second straight start Tuesday after limiting the Royals to two runs and eight hits over eight innings before Kerry Wood gave up four runs in the ninth.

Lee struggled in his only outing last year against the Reds, posting one of the losses in a 22-3 season. He's 3-2 with a 6.00 ERA in six career starts versus Cincinnati.

Johnny Cueto (4-2, 2.35) tries to rebound from his first loss in over a month for the Reds. After losing his season debut to Pittsburgh on April 11, Cueto went 4-0 over his next six starts before allowing four runs and seven hits over seven innings Tuesday in a 4-3 loss to Philadelphia.

That was the right-hander's first non-quality outing since April 17 - a span of six starts.

Cueto went 1-0 in two starts last season against the Indians, yielding three runs and eight hits in 12 1-3 innings while walking five and striking out nine.