Cleveland Indians: 3 takeaways from the Indians big win over the Reds

The Cleveland Indians exploded in the sixth inning for a big win over the Reds to tie up the Ohio Cup series and take a lead in this week’s series.

What a day it was for the Cleveland Indians. They even up the season series with the Reds and keep their claim for the Ohio Cup alive. It seemed like the Indians owned the Reds once again with another blowout win; but while the score made the game look like a blowout, the game was closer than it seemed.

The Indians have been notorious for the big inning and once again it saved them last night. For much of the game it felt like the Tribe would once again deal with the struggles of not hitting with runners in scoring position. Once again the offense decided to change that in one inning.

Mike Clevinger bends but doesn’t break

It was another outing that saw Mike Clevinger allow two or more runs. But those two runs would not overwhelm the Tribe this time around. Sunshine allowed an early run for the Reds; which the Indians quickly replied to.

After loading the bases twice and getting out of those jams’ twice, Clevinger allowed a homer from Scooter Gennett to tie things up. While it felt like Clevinger messed things up, the offense made sure he wouldn’t be the metaphorical “sacrificial lamb”.

Clevinger has had issues allowing multiple runs in his starts. If the Indians offense can keep up with their clutch hitting, Sunshine will have time to fix his issues.

Another big inning.

The Indians lead all of baseball with innings of 5 or more runs. Lat night saw another of those innings. The Tribe came into the sixth inning looking at a tie and they took advantage of Homer Bailey and his sloppy pitches.

Yandy Diaz got things going with a big-time double allowing Greg Allen to score. That brought up the top of the Indians lineup that would cause all sorts of trouble for the Reds. Once Michael Brantley and Jose Ramirez got on base, a red-hot Melky Cabrera would advance the top of the Indians lineup.

The big inning all but put things out of reach for the Reds. The fact that the Indians got contributions from everyone in the lineup give this team good faith in their offense.

Using the bullpen effectively

After Clevinger allowed his two runs, the bullpen would have to answer the call. Since this was an inter-league game; manager Terry Francona was able to manage his lineup to perfection by mixing in effective pinch-hitters. That meant a lot of work for the Indians bullpen, but they certainly made things work.

The bullpen allowed just one run in four innings against a hard-hitting Reds lineup. Andrew Miller surprisingly allowed the most base-runners. But OP and OT (Oliver Perez and Dan Otero) were magnificent in their bullpen efforts. While allowing the only run from the bullpen; Neil Ramirez worked out of the jam he induced to help the Tribe win the day.

The Indians have needed the combination of offensive and bullpen help recently. Getting these things done has made this team look unbeatable against sub-par competition.