CLEVELAND -- For the first time since 2014, the Reds have the Ohio Cup in their clutches after taking a season series from the Guardians. But for them, that's merely a small prize on the path toward what they really want -- true momentum to challenge their rivals in the National League Central.
But still, the Cup was fun to get after a 7-4 win over Cleveland gave Cincinnati wins in the first four games of its six-game in-state rivalry series.
“It was great when they rolled that trophy in here on that cart. It was, ‘Oh, it’s real. It’s right there,'" said center fielder TJ Friedl, who went 2-for-5 with a leadoff home run in the third inning.
Friedl and the Reds also learned how much beer the Ohio Cup can hold.
“Two and a half 12-ounce Coors Lights," he said. "It’s a little accomplishment in terms of the big season."
More important for the Reds and manager Terry Francona, their record is back above .500 (34-33) for the first time since May 19 thanks to a four-game winning streak. During the streak, the offense has produced 28 runs and nine home runs. Their season-high win streak is five games.
Fourth-place Cincinnati is now 6 1/2 games behind the first-place Cubs.
Is this true momentum finally for a Reds team that has hovered at or around a .500 record most of the season?
“I would never say yes, because the minute I do, something will [happen]," said Francona, who won several Ohio Cups while managing Cleveland from 2013-23. "Now we’ll try to play good tomorrow. Because if you do that enough, then I think momentum does happen."
Against a Guardians club with multiple All-Star-caliber players, the Reds were better than the sum of their parts. Making a Major League start for the first time since April 16, 2024, for the Brewers before undergoing Tommy John surgery, 38-year-old Wade Miley stepped in for the injured Hunter Greene and gave the Reds five innings for the win. Miley allowed three runs, five hits and four walks over five innings, with two strikeouts, for the victory.
“I thought we played a really crisp, good game," Francona said. "I thought Miley gave us what we needed. And having him out there, I feel like he gave everybody a lift."
After Friedl's homer gave the Reds a two-run lead, Miley labored in the third inning and gave up all three of his runs. In the top of the fourth inning, Jake Fraley hit a 1-2 Luis Ortiz pitch that just cleared the right-field wall for a game-tying solo home run. In the fifth inning, singles by Friedl and Gavin Lux led to Christian Encarnacion-Strand hitting a sacrifice fly to left field for the go-ahead run.
“It feels good just to get back out there and compete," Miley said. "Great job by them. When the Guardians came back, our offense answered right back and shut their momentum down.”
Before he left the on-deck circle, Encarnacion-Strand went back to the dugout and asked Francona to kiss his bat.
“I told him to give me some good luck. It was pretty funny," Encarnacion-Strand said.
Francona was happy to oblige.
“You better believe it," Francona said. "I’ll do whatever it takes, man. I don’t care. He was looking for a little help. I gave it to him. We’re in this together.”
Add-on runs followed. In the sixth inning, it was Lux's two-out RBI single to right field. Will Benson made it a three-run game in the seventh with his RBI single to center field to score Encarnacion-Strand. In the four games this season vs. Cleveland, Benson is 8-for-15 with four homers, eight RBIs, five runs and 20 total bases for an 1.896 OPS.
“I kept looking at my card and I’m thinking, ‘Oh God, José [Ramírez] is going to come up.’ I kept thinking, ‘Just one more,'" Francona said. "I kept saying that because he’s that good where you always know where he is on your lineup card. I remember feeling like that with [Miguel Cabrera] in Detroit. This guy is kind of the same.”
The Reds' lineup didn't stop adding, as pinch-hitter Connor Joe added an RBI double in the ninth.
“We scored one run in seven out of nine innings," Friedl said. "We just played a complete game of baseball all the way around. We have been playing really good baseball here for a little bit and we’re just going to continue to build off that. We know what we have in this clubhouse. We’re just going to take that and roll with it.”