Cleveland, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Trevor Bauer tossed 7 2/3 solid innings and the Cleveland Indians won their sixth straight game with a 5-2 win over the skidding Cincinnati Reds on Sunday.
Bauer (4-1) gave up one run on five hits while striking out four and walking none. The right-hander has allowed one run in each of his last three starts.
Carlos Santana, David Murphy and Nick Swisher had one RBI apiece for the Indians, who swept the Reds in a three-game series at Progressive Field for the first time since June 18-20, 2012.
Marlon Byrd hit a solo homer for the Reds, who have lost eight in a row for the first time since 2009.
Raisel Iglesias (1-1) started in place of Johnny Cueto (elbow stiffness) and allowed two runs on four hits over three innings. He struck out six and walked three.
"There are a lot of things we should be doing better that we're not," said Reds manager Bryan Price. "And that falls on all of us. It falls directly on me.
"It hasn't been good. It's a cycle. It will turn. When you're in it, it's the worst. Right now, it's the worst of times. Inevitably, there will be a best of times. Right now, it's not that moment."
The Indians scored a pair of runs in the third. Santana led off with a double and Brandon Moss worked a one-out walk. Murphy followed with an RBI single that deflected off first baseman Joey Votto's glove. Moss raced home when Swisher reached on second baseman Brandon Phillips' fielding error.
Cleveland plated two more runs in the sixth thanks to more sloppy fielding by the Reds. Yan Gomes reached on J.J. Hoover's fielding error before Mike Aviles and Jason Kipnis walked to load the bases with one out. After Santana popped out, Michael Brantley hit a sharp grounder to Votto. The first baseman made a nice stop but his throw to first was off the mark, allowing a pair of runs to score.
Bauer retired 12 straight batters before giving up a two-out homer to Byrd in the seventh.
Cincinnati left a runner on third in the eighth. Kristopher Negron led off with a double and moved to third when Phillips grounded out. Bauer struck out Skip Schumaker before handing the ball over to Marc Rzepczynski, who got Votto to ground out.
"I thought he made a lot of good pitches and you look up and he's pitching in the eighth inning and he had a couple innings where he had eight-pitch innings in back-to-back innings," said Indians manager Terry Francona of Bauer. "That helps because if you have to dig deep for something, you got something left at the end, like he kind of showed with the strikeout of Schumaker in the eighth inning."
Cleveland scored a run off Aroldis Chapman in the bottom half. Kipnis hit a one-out double and crossed the plate on Santana's single to center.
Brayan Pena completed the scoring with an RBI double off Cody Allen in the ninth.
Game Notes
The Reds went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded six ... The Indians activated Gomes from the 15-day disabled list prior to the game and designated catcher Brett Hayes for assignment. Gomes, who went 0-for-4 with a run scored, played for the first time since April 11 due to a knee injury.
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