CLEVELAND _ The Indians suffered a rare, ninth-inning loss in a rain-delayed, 4-3 defeat at the hands of the Cincinnati Reds at Progressive Field.
The Indians led 3-2 entering the ninth inning with closer Cody Allen on the mound, who entered a perfect 13 for 13 in save chances this season. That streak ended Wednesday night.
The Reds began the inning with two singles to put the go-ahead run on base. Jose Peraza laid down a bunt to move them over, but an aggressive play and nice throw from Carlos Santana got the out at third. Billy Hamilton then nearly grounded into a game-ending 3-6-3 double play via another nice play by Santana, but he beat the throw in a bang-bang play. He was originally called out, appearing to end the game in the Indians' favor, but the call was overturned after a manager's replay challenge.
Still alive, the decisive blow came when Zack Cozart lined a ball to left field that fell just in front of a diving Michael Brantley. Instead of the game being over via a diving catch, Brantley searched for the ball on the ground as Hamilton, arguably baseball's fastest player, scored from first base to give the Reds a 4-3 lead, their first of the night.
It was Allen's first blown save since Aug. 17 of last year, a string of 28 straight converted opportunities, including the postseason.
The Indians in the bottom of the ninth managed to put the tying and go-ahead runs on base with two outs against Raisel Iglesias via a walk by Jason Kipnis and a single by Francisco Lindor. Brantley, though, grounded out to end the game.
Earlier, the Indians took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, only a few minutes before heavy rains arrived in the top of the sixth inning. The rain forced a two-hour, one-minute delay before play resumed at 9:50 p.m. The possibility of inclement weather was one of the reasons why the Indians have started many week-day games in April and May at 6:10 p.m. instead of the traditional time of 7:10 p.m.
Santana provided all of the offense prior to the rain delay. Facing Reds starting pitcher Lisalverto Bonilla, Santana in the third inning crushed a two-run home run down the right-field line, an estimated 411-foot no doubter that cleared the seating and bounced around the Right Field District area. It was his fifth home run of the season.
The Reds quickly tied it in the next half inning against Indians starting pitcher Trevor Bauer. Joey Votto singled and was followed by Adam Duvall, who belted a two-run home run to center field on a fastball that caught too much of the plate, tying it 2-2.
As the rains neared and the possibility of the game being called official after the completion of five innings, the Reds squandered a golden opportunity to take the lead after loading the bases against Bauer with one out and Votto at the plate. Trying to keep it tied, Bauer struck out Votto looking _ one of the more difficult things to do in baseball against one of the game's best hitters _ and then induced Duvall into a routine fly out to right field to end the inning.
In the bottom of the fifth, Santana struck again. Kipnis led off the inning with a double and moved to third via a bunt by Lindor. Two batters later, Santana ripped an RBI double to right field to put the Indians on top, 3-2.
Bauer recorded one out in the sixth when the rain arrived. He allowed two runs on four hits and struck out six in 5 1/3 innings pitched.
