CLEVELAND, OH (92.3 The Fan) - Franmil Reyes put on a show Wednesday afternoon that Tribe fans won't soon forget.
Reyes launched a pair of towering home runs, two of the four the Indians hit in the game, in leading the Tribe to a 7-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals.
The victory earned the Tribe a 2-game series split, as well as an overall season series split with the Redbirds, after St. Louis took Tuesday night's game 4-2.
Reyes first home run was one of the most memorable shots in Progressive Field history. His 466-foot blast to left field landed deep onto the walkway that connects the Terrace Club level of the ballpark to the Gateway Parking Garage. The ball was deep enough that had it not landed on that elevated walkway, it would have cleared the stadium gates on the fly.
Reyes' second dinger was a no-doubter to dead center field, and was the second of back-to-back home runs (Jose Ramirez).
"I got a first pitch right in the middle up and in, his fastball is not that hard so it was very good. Really exciting," Reyes said. "I try to tell myself I'm not a pull hitter. I'm a hitter that can use the whole field."
Cesar Hernandez also went deep in that third inning, as the Tribe hit three bombs in four batters to race out ahead of St. Louis. It marked the first time the team had a 3-homer inning since 2019.
Cleveland did the vast majority of its damage against Cardinals' starter Kwang Hyun Kim, who had not allowed a single home run in his previous six starts. He was chased after 2.2 innings on Wednesday.
The Indians are back to one game over .500 now at 50-49 on the year. While they have some ground to make up, Framil Reyes indicated the team is up for the challenge.
"We've got a lot of things ahead still," Reyes said postgame. "We're gonna fight very hard."
Meanwhile, the Indians pitching staff retired the last 15 consecutive batters. Zac Plesac picked up his sixth win of the year after allowing two runs on seven hits with a walk and four strikeouts. But for as well as he pitched, Plesac was totally enamored with Reyes' power.
“It’s ridiculous," he said. "He sent that ball out of the stadium I think today. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen that.”
Blake Parker, Nick Sandlin, Emmanuel Clase and James Karinchak combined to strike out seven batters, while not allowing a baserunner over the last four innings of the game.
Notables
--- The Indians have an off day on Thursday before opening a 7-game, 8-day road trip in Chicago and Toronto on Friday.
Cleveland has gone 26-16 against division foes this season compared to 23-33 against all other teams outside the AL Central...within the division, the Tribe has beaten up on Kansas City (8-1) and Detroit (8-5), while going 6-5 against the division-leading Chicago White Sox and 4-5 against Minnesota. The Indians haven't faced a division foe since taking 3 out of 4 against Kansas City before the break.
--- The Indians are now 41-12 when scoring at least four runs in a game this season. When scoring three or fewer runs, the team is 9-37.