Reds 8, Indians 3
Reds 8, Indians 3: Zack Cozart homered and drove in four runs while Mat Latos took a shutout into the eighth inning as host Cincinnati took a 2-1 lead in the four-game, home-and-home Ohio Cup series.
Kris Negron went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and scored three runs while Todd Frazier added two hits and two RBIs for the Reds, who pulled within four games of first-place Milwaukee in the National League Central and three of St. Louis for the second wild-card spot. Latos (4-3) held Cleveland scoreless for seven innings and wound up allowing three runs and six hits in 7 2/3 frames to win his second straight start.
Danny Salazar (4-5) was roughed up for five runs on five hits in four innings, snapping his three-start winning streak. Yan Gomes homered and Jason Kipnis went 3-for-4 with a run scored for the Indians, who remained 6 1/2 games behind first-place Detroit in the American League Central and fell 3 1/2 behind Toronto for the second wild card.
Cozart put the Reds on the board with two outs in the second, ripping a 2-2 slider from Salazar off the left-field foul pole for a three-run shot. Negron connected for a two-run blast to left-center in the fourth to make it 5-0, and Cincinnati tacked on three in the seventh on Cozart's RBI single and Frazier's two-run double.
Latos cruised until Gomes led off the eighth by jumping on an 0-1 fastball for his 16th homer, and pinch-hitter Ryan Raburn's two-run double later in the inning chased the right-hander. Jumbo Diaz retired Carlos Santana to end the rally and Sam LeCure worked around a two-out double by Gomes in the ninth to seal it.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Gomes stretched his career-best hitting streak to 12 games. … Reds 1B Brayan Pena went 2-for-4 and scored twice, extending his hitting streak to 11 games - one shy of his career-best run in 2009. … Cleveland's Nick Swisher returned to the lineup after missing two games with a sore right wrist. He started in left field and went 0-for-4.