Perez powers Indians past Reds for fifth straight win

Roberto Perez highlighted his second career four-hit performance with a go-ahead two-run homer in the eighth inning, as the visiting Cleveland Indians posted a 7-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday. Shane Bieber (8-3) tossed eight strong innings, and Francisco Lindor belted a pair of solo shots to record his 11th career multi-homer performance for the Indians, who have won five in a row.

Yasiel Puig launched a two-run homer in the first inning and finished with three of the five hits for the Reds, who saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt. With the game tied at 2, Jose Ramirez ripped a one-out double off Michael Lorenzen (0-2) in the eighth inning. Perez followed two batters later by depositing a 3-2 changeup from Lorenzen over the wall in right field to extend his career-high total in homers to 16 on the season.

Perez's four-hit performance was his first since he collected four singles against Texas on Aug. 26, 2016. Cleveland tacked on three insurance runs with two outs in the ninth inning, as Ramirez worked a bases-loaded walk before Jake Bauers added a two-run single.

Bieber, who was named to the American League All-Star Game to replace Rangers left-hander Mike Minor, allowed two runs on four hits with eight strikeouts to improve to 6-1 in his last 10 outings. Lindor wasted little time ending Cincinnati's 23 1/3-scoreless innings streak, leading off the game by sending a 2-1 fastball from Anthony DeSclafani over the wall in right field. Lindor's leadoff homer was his fourth this season and 16th career.

The Reds quickly rebounded in their half of the first inning. Eugenio Suarez ripped a two-out single before Puig muscled a 1-2 slider from Bieber over the wall in right-center field for his team co-leading 20th homer and ninth in his last 19 games. Lindor deposited a 2-2 curveball from DeSclafani off the right-field foul pole in the fifth to cap his two-homer performance and forge a tie at 2. Lindor's second homer boosted his total to 14 on the season.

--Field Level Media

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