Sweet Revenge: Indians Top Reds

June 7, 1998 / 12:36 AM EDT / CBS/AP

The Cleveland Indians are growing fond of their budding Ohio rivalry.

With another pro-Indians crowd turning Cinergy Field into Jacobs Field South, Cleveland emphatically evened its intrastate series on Saturday night. Jaret Wright allowed two hits over eight innings and Sandy Alomar drove in three runs for a 10-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

The Indians piled up 15 hits, including a season-high seven doubles, and Wright (5-3) won his fourth consecutive start in front of a rare sellout crowd in Cincinnati.

The gate of 51,796 represented the Reds' first non-opening day sellout since Aug. 6, 1994. Although it was more than double a typical Cinergy crowd, the big crowd was standard stuff to the Indians.

"I don't mean to brag, but we're used to this. Jacobs Field is sold out every night," Alomar said. "It's fun for people around southern Ohio get to see us play and see Cincinnati play. The whole idea is pretty cool right now."

Cleveland's ninth victory in 12 games improved Hargrove's managing record to 571-477, moving him ahead of Al Lopez for third place on the Indians' career wins list. He trails only Lou Boudreau (728) and Tris Speaker (616).

Cleveland took control by piling up six runs on nine hits in only 4 2-3 innings off Mike Remlinger (3-7), who has not won in a month. Two runs scored on wild pitches by the left-hander, 0-4 with a no-decision since May 6.

By the time Omar Vizquel tripled home a pair of runs in a four-run eighth, most of the Reds fans were heading for the exits, leaving Indians fans to revel in the impressive win. Every starter except Kenny Lofton had a hit.

"It was a great night for everybody," Alomar said.

Especially for Wright. He won his fourth straight start and provided an impressive encore to his first major league complete game, a three-hit shutout of Detroit on Monday.

"I feel like I'm pitching a little more than I did last year instead of just throwing every pitch as hard as I can," said Wright, the Indians' starter in Game 7 of the World Series last fall.

The Reds knew they had little chance once Cleveland got ahead with Wright on the mound.

"He's not as good as Kerry Wood, but he's damn close," manager Jack McKeon said. "With that kid pitching, I knew the game was over in the second inning."

Chris Stynes had the only two hits off Wright a single in the fourth and an inside-the-park homer on a play that resulted in Manny Ramirez injuring himself slightly.

With two outs in the sixth, Stynes hit a soft liner that landed just inside the foul line in right. Ramirez, running all-out, failed to get to the ball and ran into the stands hard, jamming his right wrist.

Ramirez walked around in the outfield shaking his right hand while the all rolled around in the right-field corner, allowing Stynes to circle the bases for Cincinnati's first inside-the-park homer since Deion Sanders had one last April 18 against Pittsburgh.

X-rays found no fracture and the injury was diagnosed as a mildly sprained wrist. Hargrove didn't fault Ramirez for failing to go after the ball after he was hurt.

"I'm sure he was still checking to make sure his hand was still attached to his arm," Hargrove said. "That's understandable. I don't have a problem with it."

Jim Thome had two hits, scored three runs and extended his hitting streak to 12 games, one shy of his career high.

Alomar, in a 7-for-41 (.171) slump, singled home a run in the second and Remlinger threw a two-out wild pitch to let in another and put the Indians up 2-0.

Thome walked on four pitches to open the fourth, Ramirez singled and both runners advanced on wild pitch with Alomar at bat. Alomar then doubled for a 4-0 lead.

The Indians knocked Remlinger out in the fifth, when the left-hander let in another run with his third wild pitch of the game and Ramirez had an RBI single.

The victory left Cincinnati with a 3-2 advantage in the interleague series over the past two seasons. The Reds won two-of-three at Jacobs Field last year.

Notes: The thousands of Indians fans were respectful during pregame ceremonies to retire Joe Morgan's No. 8. The only boos came at the mention of Pete Rose the guy who ran over Indians catcher Ray Fosse in the 1970 All-Star game. ... Last year, Remlinger made his first start of the season in Cleveland and shut the Indians out for six innings to get the win. ... Wright reached first on an infield single when he tried to sacrifice and no one fielded his bunt in the eighth. It was his first hit in seven career at-bats. ... Both teams are 10-7 in interleague play over the last two seasons.