Jhonny Peralta's RBI single in the sixth propelled the Indians to victory at Progressive Field.
UPDATED: 8:11 p.m.
Indians shortstop Jason Donald hurdles a sliding Scott Rolen and easily turns a double play to close the eighth inning Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field.• Box score | Photo gallery
• Given a chance, Shelley Duncan provides a lift for the Tribe: Indians Insider CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Reds reliever Daniel Ray Herrera did Jhonny Peralta did a favor in the sixth inning Sunday afternoon.
Instead of coming back with another Bugs Bunny screwball in a 1-2 count, the left-handed Herrera attempted to sneak a fastball past the Indians' third baseman.
Pitchers should know better than to challenge Peralta when it's not April, the temperature is reasonably comfortable and the speed of the pitch is 86 mph. Peralta lined a two-out single to drive in Trevor Crowe for the go-ahead RBI in the Indians' 4-3 victory over the Reds at Progressive Field.
Reds outfielder Chris Heisey is out of room as a third-inning drive by the Indians' Shin-Soo Choo bangs off the left-field wall Sunday afternoon at Progressive Field. Choo was credited with a triple, and eventually scored on Russell Branyan's sacrifice fly.ON DECK: INDIANS VS. WHITE SOX
When: Monday through Wednesday.
Where: Progressive Field.
TV/radio: SportsTime Ohio Monday and Tuesday; WTAM AM/1100.
Series: Indians lead, 5-1, this season. They trail, 1,016-982, all-time.
Pitching matchups: RHP Justin Masterson (0-4, 5.65 ERA) vs. LHP John Danks (3-3, 2.26), Monday at 7:05; RHP Mitch Talbot (5-3, 3.88) vs. RHP Jake Peavy (3-3, 5.74), Tuesday at 7:05 p.m.; and RHP Jake Westbrook (2-2, 4.56) vs. LHP Mark Buehrle (3-5, 4.55), Wednesday at 12:05 p.m.
Indians update: They are 16-26 after their victory over Reds on Sunday. They have won five straight over the White Sox since losing to Buehrle, 6-0, on Opening Day in Chicago. Talbot owns one of the victories; the other four come from two pitchers, Jensen Lewis and Fausto Carmona, who will not be involved in this series. Lewis is in Class AAA Columbus. Talbot beat Buehrle, 6-2, April 16 in Cleveland. ... RF Shin-Soo Choo is 6-for-21 (.286) with one homer, seven RBI and six walks in six games against White Sox this year.
White Sox update: They are 18-25. They lost to the Marlins, 13-0, Sunday in Chicago. 1B Paul Konerko is hitting .270 with 14 homers and 31 RBI. Three of Konerko’s five hits against Indians this season have been homers. White Sox are hitting .190 against Cleveland. ... OF Alex Rios is hitting .311 in 40 games. ... The White Sox have 47 steals.
Injuries: Indians — RHP Anthony Reyes (elbow), INF Andy Marte (non-baseball medical issue), INF Asdrubal Cabrera (left forearm) and OF Grady Sizemore (left knee) are on disabled list. White Sox — none.
Next for Indians: Four-game series against Yankees begins Friday in the Bronx.
— Dennis Manoloff The Tribe (16-26) snapped a six-game losing streak and improved to 7-12 at home, winning despite leaving 12 on base. The Reds (25-19) were denied a first-ever sweep in Cleveland. They are 11-4 against the Tribe since the beginning of 2008.
Herrera, who stands 5-6, struck out Lou Marson looking to open the sixth in a 3-3 game. Crowe singled and raced to third on Shin-Soo Choo's single. Choo finished 3-for-4.
Travis Hafner struck out swinging -- and looked bad doing it. The final two strikes came when he flailed at screwballs clocked in the mid-to-high 60s.
"I saw how he pitched Hafner and thought he'd do the same with me," said Peralta, who swung and missed at a 67 mph pitch, took an 86 mph fastball for a ball and swung over another screwball. He would have looked more comfortable bobbing for apples.
Doubling up with an off-speed pitch, especially to the opposite side, can be dangerous. But it absolutely made sense in this spot given this screwball's cartoon, wiffle-ball action.
"He's really slow," Peralta said. "That's a tough pitch. I figured he'd come with another one."
Instead, Herrera brought the "heat." Catcher Ryan Hanigan set up inside, but the pitch leaked over the middle and Peralta ripped it to left.
"I think if he throws the slow one, he's got me," Peralta said. "He threw me the fastball, and I put a good swing on it."
Peralta had been 6-for-43 against lefties. He went 1-for-4 against all pitchers Sunday and is hitting .236. He was at .224 by the end of April.
In the top of the seventh, Peralta made a superb play to charge a bunt by Hanigan and throw accurately to first for the first out of the inning.
"Jhonny had a great at-bat and great play coming in on the bunt," Indians manager Manny Acta said. "He was huge."
The slick defensive work proved significant because, with two outs, Indians reliever Chris Perez plunked Orlando Cabrera and walked Brandon Phillips. Lefty Tony Sipp, who had not given up an earned run in his previous 14 innings, relieved to face left-handed Joey Votto, one of the game's best young hitters. Sipp won the duel when Votto flied deep to left.
Sipp has not allowed any of 14 inherited runners to score. He pitched a scoreless eighth, then gave way to Kerry Wood, who earned his first save, the second out coming on a whiff of pinch-hitter Laynce Nix. Nix swung threw a filthy breaking pitch.
All Nix had done the previous three games was amass eight hits, including three homers, and drive in seven. With Tribe lefty David Huff on the mound, Nix did not start as part of a platoon.
Huff (2-6, 5.25 ERA) gave up the three runs on six hits in six innings. He walked one and struck out four. Scott Rolen tagged him for two homers, both on off-speed pitches that missed their spots. Huff has given up 10 homers in 48 innings.
The Tribe's victory leader last year with 11 as a rookie, Huff has been solid his past two starts after Acta and pitching coach Tim Belcher pulled him aside in Kansas City. Huff had just given up six runs on nine hits in 5 2/3 innings to fall to 1-5.
"They pretty much lit a fire under my butt," he said. "They said, 'Look, you're getting away from what you should be doing. You've got a good fastball and change-up and you're not using them. Stop giving those guys so much credit and get after them.'"
Rolen gave the Reds a 2-0 lead in the first with a two-out homer. The Indians answered with two in their half of the inning. Crowe led off with a walk and moved to second on Choo's single. The runners advanced on Homer Bailey's wild pitch.
With the infield playing deep, Hafner hit a slow roller to second. Phillips made the bare-hand pick, but the throw had no chance as Crowe scored. Hafner extended his hitting streak to 11 games. After two flyouts, Shelley Duncan ripped an RBI single to center.
The Tribe inched in front in the third. Choo led off with a triple off the left-field wall. The ball kept carrying, just as Rolen's homer did. Russell Branyan hit a sacrifice fly to center.
Cincinnati tied it, 3-3, in the sixth when Rolen launched a 1-2 change over the wall in left-center.
"I'm surprised you guys didn't hear the cuss word I threw out there," Huff said. "I've got to make a better pitch there."
Bailey exited after 2 1/3 innings because of right-shoulder tightness.