It played out that way again Wednesday. The Guardians were held scoreless through four innings before a four-run fifth blew the game open, and they tacked on two more in the seventh to put it away for good.
This was a series that swung hard both directions. Cleveland arrived having dropped five straight, then snapped that skid Tuesday with a Kyle Manzardo grand slam in game one of a doubleheader before Cincinnati answered with a 2-0 win in the nightcap on a highlight-reel catch in center. Wednesday's finale went the Guardians' way and gave them the series.
Cincinnati's injury list reads like a full rotation and lineup card at this point, and it's the kind of thing that erodes a team over a long stretch rather than in any one game. Singer pitched well enough to keep it competitive, but the Reds committed two errors and managed just one run of support all night.
Both clubs sit in the wrong half of .500 with nothing but pride on the line the rest of this series week, but Cleveland leaves Cincinnati having stopped the bleeding after last week's five-game slide.