Carlos Santana hits grand slam as Guardians beat Reds 11-2 to avoid season sweep by Francona’s club

By Canadian Press on June 11, 2025.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Carlos Santana slugged his sixth career grand slam and the Cleveland Guardians beat Cincinnati 11-2 on Wednesday, snapping the Reds’ five-game win streak and denying manager Terry Francona a season sweep of his former team.

Santana’s third-inning slam came on the 15th anniversary of his major league debut. It was his eighth homer this season and made it 5-0, helping Cleveland salvage the finale of this three-game series. Francona’s Reds swept the Guardians in three games at Cincinnati last month.

The Guardians had five straight hits to open a four-run sixth for a nine-run lead, including a three-run homer by Lane Thomas. Cleveland’s 11 runs were a season high.

Thomas’ homer was his first this season after returning from the injured list this week. He had three hits, drove in three runs and scored twice.

José Ramírez hit an RBI double to extend his career-long on-base streak to 37 games, the longest active streak in the majors. He has a hit in 11 straight games.

Logan Allen (4-4) went six innings and gave up solo homers to Elly De La Cruz and TJ Friedl. He struck out six.

Nick Lodolo (4-5) lasted only 3 1/3 innings, giving up six runs.

Cincinnati’s Christian Encarnacion-Strand was hit on the bill of his helmet by a 97 mph pitch from Emmanuel Clase in the ninth but stayed in the game.

Key moment

Angel Martínez and Thomas singled and Ramírez was hit by a pitch to set up Sanchez’s slam.

Key stat

Ramírez hit his 380th career double, passing Earl Averill for third-most in franchise history. He trails Hall of Famers Tris Speaker (486) and Nap Lajoie (424).

Up next

Cincinnati’s Nick Martinez (4-6, 3.70 ERA) will pitch against Keider Montero (2-1, 4.30) at Detroit on Friday. Cleveland’s Gavin Williams (5-3, 3.86) will face Luis Castillo (4-4, 3.31) at Seattle on Friday.

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

The Associated Press

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