Brantley, Indians slip by Reds, 4-3

Published 1:51 am Friday, April 3, 2015

GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) — Michael Brantley hit his first home run of the spring and the Cleveland Indians beat Cincinnati 4-3 Thursday as the Reds wrapped up camp.

Brantley had two hits, including a two-run homer off Pedro Villarreal in the seventh inning.

“Brantley is going to be good regardless,” manager Terry Francona said. “There is so little swing-and-miss. When he sees a ball he likes, he’s going to hit it.”

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Cincinnati’s Mike Leake gave up a solo homer to Ryan Rohlinger that broke a tie in the fifth inning. Rohlinger, who was told last week that he would not make the team, hit his third home run of the spring.

Leake allowed seven hits and a pair of runs in six innings.

Zach McAllister went 6 1-3 innings, the longest stint for any Indians pitcher this spring. He gave up one earned run and nine hits. Jay Bruce had a sacrifice fly.

Reds regulars and coaches left in the sixth inning for a flight to Montreal, where they’ll play exhibition games against Toronto on Friday and Saturday. Then the Reds head to Cincinnati for their season opener on Monday afternoon against Pittsburgh.

TRAINING ROOM

Indians: INF Zach Walters, who has a right abdominal strain, and OF Nick Swisher, who is recovering from knee surgery, will start the season on the disabled list.

Reds: Three players will open the season on the DL: RHP Homer Bailey, who is recovering from forearm surgery; LHP Sean Marshall, who has a sore shoulder; and OF Jason Bourgeois, who broke his left shoulder.

STARTING TIME

Indians: McAllister will start the home opener Friday April 10 against Detroit. Unless weather interferes with the schedule, the Indians won’t need a fifth starter again until the April 21. Francona will use McAllister in relief until then.

“We want to use him as a weapon out of the bullpen,” Francona said.

McAllister finished the spring with a 2.84 ERA, allowing eight earned runs in 25 1-3 innings.

Reds: Leake will start the second game of the season on April 8 against the Pirates. Leake completed a successful spring as the Reds’ new No. 2 starter. He didn’t give up a run in three of his appearances and allowed a total of three runs in 20 innings for a 1.35 ERA.

“He has done a really good job of attacking his areas of weakness,” manager Bryan Price said. “There hasn’t been any part of his game he hasn’t worked on over the years.”

UP NEXT

Indians: RHP Carlos Carrasco will start against the Brewers and RHP Wily Peralta. RHP Bryan Shaw, RHP Cody Allen, LHP Mark Rzepczynski and RHP Anthony Swarzak will follow Carrasco.

Reds: RHP Jason Marquis will pitch the first game in Montreal against the Blue Jays and LHP Mark Buehrle. LHP Aroldis Chapman, RHP Burke Badenhop and LHP Tony Cingrani will follow Marquis.

ROSTER MOVES

Indians: The Indians optioned INF Jesus Aguilar to Triple-A Columbus. They informed Michael Martinez that he will not make the team — he’s expected to go to Columbus. They told Austin Adams that he earned a spot in the bullpen.

Reds: Assigned RHP Sam LeCure outright to Triple-A Louisville. Re-assigned Michael Lorenzen to minor league camp. He is most likely to go to Louisville.