By HAL McCOY
Zack Cozart hit his 12th home run and Scooter Gennett hit his 18th home run and that’s all she wrote Monday night for the Cincinnati Reds.
Both home runs were solo shots and that’s all the runs the Reds scored against the Cleveland Indians in a 6-2 defeat at Progressive Field.
Cozart and Gennett are having career seasons, but they are not getting much help from the middle of the Reds batting order since the All-Star break and the Reds are 2-and-9.
SWITCH-HITTER CARLOS SANTANA, the baseball player and not the guitar player, matched Cozart and Gennett by himself with two home runs — one left handed and one right handed.
The Reds and Indians split the season’s series with two wins apiece, but since the Tribe possesses the Ohio Cup they get to keep it. And Santana was named the Ohio Cup Most Outstanding Player. Santana hit three home runs in the four games.
The game was a makeup for the May 25 rained out game and was the start of a 10-game trip for the Reds. They move on to New York Tuesday for a two-game series against the Yankees.
THE PITCHING MATCH-UP WAS Cincinnati’s Tim Adleman, now 5-and-8, against Cleveland’s Josh Tomlin, 6-and-9 with a 5.74 earned run average when the night began.
Tomlin held the Reds to two runs and four hits over six innings. He struck out six and, strangely, all six came in a row — Devin Mesoraco to end the second, Scott Schebler, Patrick Kivlehan and Jose Peralta in the third and Billy Hamilton and Zack Cozart to start the fourth.
The Tribe opened the first with a double by Bradley Zimmer and a perfect bunt single up the third base line by Francisco Lindor and a sacrifice fly by Michael Brantley that was actually a double play.
Billy Hamilton chased down Brantley’s line drive and his throw to first base doubled off Lindor, but Zimmer scored on the play.
Hamilton’s assist was his ninth and the Reds outfield leads the National League with 24 assists (Adam Duvall 8, Scott Schebler 5, Almendy Alcantara one and Patrick Kivlehan one. The Chicago White Sox lead the majors with 25.
GENNETT’S LEADOFF HOME RUN in the fifth tied the game, 1-1, but the Tribe forged ahead in the bottom of the fifth with two runs. Adleman walked two and one scored on a double by Roberto Perez and another scored on Zimmer’s sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.
Cozart’s two-out home run in the sixth drew the Reds to within 3-2, but Santan’s first home run of the game, leading off the seventh made it 4-2 and Zimmer’s single later that inning against Blake Wood made it 5-2.
Santana, batting right handed against lefty Tony Cingrani, homered in the eighth, for the final run.
JOEY VOTTO SINGLED IN THE sixth to break a 0-for-16 slide, but he hasn’t scored a run or driven in a run in the first 11 games after the All-Star break and the Reds are 2-and-9. Scott Schebler went 0 for 3 and is 1-for-29.
Adleman pitched six-plus innings and gave up five runs and six hits and the Reds suddenly woeful offense collected only five hits.
Cleveland’s Andrew Millers pitched the seventh and eighth and gave up one hit. Closer Cody Allen, who has blown only one save all season and that was to the Reds, pitched the ninth to close it out.