Tribe, Reds put on homer show in Goodyear

Tribe, Reds put on homer show in Goodyear

March 29th, 2017

GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- The Reds and Indians bid farewell to Goodyear Ballpark this spring with a combined seven home runs on Wednesday afternoon. Cleveland came out on top in the Cactus League slugfest with a 9-6 victory.
dropped the most jaws with a towering first-inning shot against , who turned and watched the ball bounce high off the scoreboard that stands behind the left-field berm. For the Indians, and each contributed home runs in their quest to be included on the Tribe's Opening Day roster.
In his final tuneup for the regular season, Carrasco was charged with four runs on nine hits in four innings of work, ending with five strikeouts and one walk. Three of the runs came in the first, when Duvall (solo shot) and (two-run blast) each went deep off the righty.

Reds left-hander allowed four runs (three earned) on seven hits in his four innings, which featured three walks and three strikeouts. All four runs came in the second, when Diaz highlighted the scoring with an opposite-field, three-run homer. Diaz, No. 10 on the Tribe's Top 30 prospects list per MLBPipeline.com, is trying to win the vacant third-base job.
"I'll admit, it's been a little stressful for us," said Indians manager Terry Francona, referring to the third-base decision. "There's an unknown there. [Diaz] hasn't been to the Major League level. He's kind of a work in progress defensively and, it figures, nobody's hit a ball to him in three days. But he is some kind of hitter, and whether he makes our club or not, that's not going to deter our view of him. This kid's got a chance to be a really good hitter and a really good player."
Finnegan finished with a 7.63 ERA in 15 ⅓ innings over five games.
"A lot of hit and miss," Reds manager Bryan Price said of Finnegan's spring. "It was very evident of the second half [of last season] when his command took over with his overall quality and dependability. It's what you get with young pitchers, a 23-year-old kid who grew up in the big leagues and learning how to pitch up here. We'll see a very good version of Brandon Finnegan this year. I'm very confident of that."
Diaz ended the day 2-for-3 and is batting .429 through 18 Cactus League games.

Brantley, who is trying to prove he's ready to open with the Indians after an 18-month comeback from right shoulder and biceps issues, belted a solo shot off Louis Coleman in the fifth. Coleman also allowed a two-run homer to in the fifth, and Reds reliever surrendered a shot to in the sixth.
In his debut for the Reds, Scooter Gennett added a blast off Indians reliever in the home half of the fifth in his first at-bat. Gennett was claimed off waivers from the Brewers on Tuesday.

Indians Up Next: Brantley is expected to be in the lineup Thursday, when the Indians head to Chase Field for a 9:40 p.m. ET exhibition against the D-backs on MLB.TV. Lefty Chris Narveson is the planned starter for the Indians.
Reds Up Next: After flying to Cincinnati and getting a day off Thursday, the Reds will play a squad of their prospects on Friday in Louisville, Ky., home of their Triple-A affiliate. First pitch is at 6:15 p.m. ET with getting the start, his final tuneup before he debuts in the Major Leagues next week.
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