A Picture-Perfect Triumph In Cincinnati

A perfect night, weather-wise, turned into a perfect win for Indians fans Saturday night. The setting was the Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati for an interleague game with the Reds, who reside in last place in the NL Central. Cleveland, leading the AL Central, took the early lead, fell behind, rallied to tie, got a game-saving catch, then finally won it it 11 innings, 8-6.

Grady Sizemore got the Indians started by leading off the game with a homer ...
... and getting congratulations from coach Joel Skinner as he rounded third base.

After giving up a two-run homer to Jeff Conine and the lead, Indians starter Jeremy Sowers slides in safely ahead of the tag by Reds catcher Chad Moeller to score on a sacrifice fly by Victor Martinez. Sowers walked and eventually scored. Later, he got an infield single for his first MLB hit.

Sowers allowed five runs over four innings, including homers to Conine and Josh Hamilton.

David Dellucci couldn't catch this double off the bat of Cincinnati's Ken Griffey Jr.

Dellucci got the homer handshake from coach Skinner after tying the score, 6-6, with a two-run shot in the eighth.

Griffey hit one of six homers (three by each team) on the night. He watches No. 578 of his career, off Tribe reliever Rafael Perez.

Hamilton hit his ninth early in the game off Sowers.

Franklin Gutierrez robs Alex Gonzalez by racing into the right-field corner to catch his fly ball that could have won it for the Reds in the bottom of the 10th.

The Indians scored twice in the top of the 11th to make Tom Mastny (4-2) the winner. Joe Borowski got his 18th save in the bottom half to save it.