Sun Jun 29 17:24:38 2008

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Reds overpower Tribe

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Cleveland, OH (Sports Network) - Edwin Encarnacion and Adam Dunn each homered and drove in three runs as the Cincinnati Reds trumped the Cleveland Indians, 9-5, to take the rubber match in the second segment of the battle of Ohio.

Bronson Arroyo (5-7) yielded two runs -- one earned -- on five hits and two walks in six innings of work while striking out six for the Reds, who took the final two games in the set.

Jeff Keppinger went 2-for-4 with an RBI double and Brandon Philips also knocked in a run for Cincinnati.

Starter Aaron Laffey (4-5) allowed five runs on eight hits across five innings for Cleveland, which has lost two in a row.

Grady Sizemore was 2-for-5 with a homer and Ben Francisco hit a two-run shot to lead the Indians offense.

The Reds snapped a scoreless tie with a five-run fifth. David Ross singled and Jerry Hairston, Jr. doubled with one out to put men in scoring position. Laffey threw a wild pitch to plate Ross before Keppinger doubled to score Hairston from third.

Ken Griffey, Jr. followed with a fly out that moved Keppinger to third. He scored on a single by Phillips, who came home on Encarnacion's 13th homer of the season, a two-run blast.

Sizemore led off the home sixth with a round tripper to put Cleveland on the board. Francisco drew a one-out walk and scored two batters later on a Shin- Soo Choo double to cut the deficit to 5-2.

Cincinnati extended its lead to six on Dunn's 20th homer in the seventh. Phillips reached on a two-out single, stole second and was followed by an Encarnacion walk before Dunn's blast.

Kelly Shoppach hit an RBI double to left in the eighth scoring Jhonny Peralta, who singled to lead off the inning.

The Reds went up 9-3 as Encarnacion singled in the ninth to score Phillips, who led off with a double.

In the home half, Jorge Velandia reached on an error then scored when Francisco launched a two-run shot, but the Tribe were unable to muster anything else against Jeremy Affeldt.

Game Notes

Dusty Baker earned his 1,200th career victory as a manager, sixth among active skippers...Dunn had five home runs and 10 RBI in six games against Cleveland this season. This is the seventh consecutive season Dunn reached the 20-homer plateau...Cincinnati finished 9-6 against the American League this season including a 4-2 edge over the Indians...Cleveland had not scored for 16 1/3 consecutive innings before Sizemore's blast in the sixth...Shoppach has a career-high eight game hitting streak...Cleveland has lost five of its last seven and finished interleague play with a 6-12 record.