|
|
|
|
 |
|
Scores Schedules Standings Statistics Transactions Injuries: AL | NL Players Weekly Lineup Message Board Minor Leagues MLB Stat Search Clubhouses |
| Sport Sections |
|
|
| |
Friday, Jun. 9 7:05pm ET
Brower gets first W of season | |||||
|
| ||||||
|
RECAP
|
BOX SCORE
|
GAME LOG
CLEVELAND (Ticker) -- David Justice and Richie Sexson each homered twice and Jim Brower posted his first victory of the season as the Cleveland Indians rolled to a 7-4 triumph over the Cincinnati Reds. Justice and Sexson recorded their second multi-homer games of the season. Justice, who homered in the first and third innings, has 18 multi-homer games in his career. The veteran outfielder has heated up with fellow outfielder Manny Ramirez on the disabled list. He has 14 homers and 37 RBI in his last 29 games. "I still feel like I am scuffling," Justice said. "If Denny (Neagle) had thrown those piches where he wanted to, I wouldn't have hit them. He threw it right down the middle." "He has done everything we have asked of him this past month," Indians manager Charlie Manuel said. "His hands are quick and he keeps his feet back. He stays in good against lefties and that's why I kept him in against Neagle." Sexson, who had solo homers in the second and seventh, has five career multi-homer games. He has 11 homers and 25 RBI in his last 33 games, raising his average from .203 on May 2 to his current mark of .254. "I am hitting the ball where it's pitched and I am trying to use the whole field," Sexson said. "If I get a pitch inside, I still try to pull it. If it's in the middle or the outside corner, I can go the other way." Brower (1-0) allowed four runs and eight hits over six innings. He did not walk a batter but struck out three. Justin Speier threw two hitless innings before Steve Karsay tossed a perfect ninth for his 13th save. "The first couple of innings, I was behind a couple of hitters," Brower said. "I was struggling, but I had some great plays behind me. I think I settled down after the second inning. I was making better pitches and moving around better. I was trying to hang in there for six or seven innings." The Indians did not walk a batter for the first time since August 9 against Anaheim. Cincinnati's Neagle (5-1) had his personal 11-game winning streak snapped, allowing six runs and 11 hits over six innings. He had not lost since August 25, a span of 19 starts. "Leaving the pen, I felt like I didn't have my best stuff," Neagle said. "It was tough to find my location and they have a dangerous lineup without Thome and Ramirez." "It was a tough night," Reds manager Jack McKeon said. "They got a couple of good hittes and Justice is hot and we knew that. He showed us that right of the bat." After the Reds threatened in the first inning, Cleveland scored twice in the bottom of the inning. Omar Vizquel singled with one out and scored on Justice's 16th homer. The Reds responded with three runs in the second. Sean Casey led off with a single and Dmitri Young homered to right-center field. Two outs later, Pokey Reese hit his third homer of the season for a 3-2 lead. Sexson opened the second with a homer and Jolbert Cabrera's single scored Sandy Alomar with the go-ahead run. Justice began the third inning with his second homer of the contest and Alex Ramirez's RBI single to left later in the frame made it 6-3. "I don't feel like I am locked in," Justice said. "I am getting pitches down the middle and I hit them. No, I'm serious. Maybe I'm just being too hard on myself." "D.J. took advantages of pitches up in the zone," Neagle said. "You don't throw curves after a changeup and that's what I did on the first home run." The Reds got a run back on an RBI single by Dante Bichette that plated Ken Griffey in the fifth but the Indians countered with Sexson's 12th homer, in the seventh. The two-homer games by Justice and Sexson marked the first time in the history of Jacobs Field that two players have had multi-homer games in the same contest. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Cincinnati Clubhouse Cleveland Clubhouse RECAPS Cleveland 7 Cincinnati 4
Chi. White Sox 6
  | |||||