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| Dunn's walk helps Reds edge Indians CINCINNATI 4, CLEVELAND 3 |
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By Douglas Tifft PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer CINCINNATI (Ticker) -- Adam Dunn used power and patience to help the Cincinnati Reds begin interleague play in good fashion. Dunn's bases-loaded walk in the eighth inning helped the Reds edge the Cleveland Indians, 4-3, on Friday. Brandon Phillips hit a two-run homer and Dunn added a solo blast for Cincinnati, which won its season-high fourth straight game. With the bases full and the game tied at 3-3 with one out, Dunn was walked on seven pitches by Cleveland reliever Jensen Lewis (0-2), plating Phillips with the decisive run. "(Lewis) threw some good pitches and I was seeing him pretty good. I just didn't want to get myself out," Dunn said. "Any way that you can get that run in, you get it in," Reds manager Dusty Baker said. "That was a big at-bat by Adam. He's been having a lot of big at-bats for us lately." It was the third walk of the inning issued by Lewis. "Jensen was close on a couple of pitches. He just could not lock in," Indians manager Eric Wedge said. David Weathers (1-2) picked up the win after tossing a scoreless eighth and closer Francisco Cordero struck out the side in the ninth to notch his eighth save. "Tonight I had a real good location," Cordero said. "I got three strikeouts, with every different pitch. One was a fastball, the second was with the slider, and the last guy I got with a changeup. So that showed me that everything was working tonight." The Reds got on the scoreboard in the first inning, when Phillips belted a shot an estimated 446 feet into the second deck in left field off Cleveland starter Jeremy Sowers to make it 2-0. Dunn added his eighth homer in the second inning, launching a towering shot into the last row of seats in right to give Cincinnati a 3-0 advantage. "I'm not like Adam, I was just visiting," Phillips said jokingly of his upper-deck shot. Reds starter Johnny Cueto carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning before surrendering back-to-back solo home runs by Casey Blake and pinch hitter Travis Hafner. Two batters later, Jhonny Peralta knotted the contest with another solo shot. "You can say, no big deal (about the first home run), but then Johnny starts centering the ball over the plate," Baker said. "He was still throwing strikes, but they were bad strikes. That lineup knows what to do with bad strikes." Cueto allowed three runs, three hits and two walks while striking out seven in six frames. Sowers yielded three runs, five hits and two walks in five innings. |
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