Reds, Tribe dazzle with spectacular defense

CINCINNATI — Babe Ruth liked food. A lot. In that way the Bambino did baseball no favors. Sure, he hit home runs in bunches, but after swinging the bat he still had to run. And watching that hot dog-infused body circle the bases on those tentpeg legs is not exactly an award-winning advertisement for physical fitness.

What does it say about a sport when its greatest athlete runs like he needs a bathroom? For many, it says baseball slides in behind basketball, football and hockey when ranking athleticism required to play the game.

They point out that for every Willie Mays, there is a Terry Forster, the former major-league pitcher who David Letterman once dubbed a “fat tub of goo.” Hardly offended, at 270 pounds, Forster wore the moniker proudly.

Despite poor optics, baseball gets a bad rap. Ever try to hit a 95 mph fastball? Ninetynine percent of us would still be swinging when the catcher tosses the ball back to the mound. The coordination needed just to make contact is underappreciated by most.

But hitting is only part of what places baseball players near the top of my list of most gifted athletes. Defense is almost as difficult as putting the ball in play. Tracking down a curving line drive or fielding a onehopper and throwing

out the runner at first are not executed by physical slouches.

On Saturday afternoon, the Cleveland Indians defeated the Cincinnati Reds 7-2 in an interleague game played on the surface of the sun. The Queen City was so steamy, the Ohio River began to sweat. Yet inside Great American Ball Park the hottest thing going was defense. Web gems germinated everywhere, beginning with Oscar Mercado’s spectacular over-theshoulder leaping catch of a ball off the bat of Reds leadoff hitter Jesse Winker in the first inning. Maybe it wasn’t Lebron James pinning Andre Iguodala’s breakaway layup to the glass, but Lebron would not have snagged Winker’s screamer, either.

“That was huge, man. That play is probably a triple,” Indians catcher Roberto Perez said of Mercado’s catch. “It changed the momentum. There could have been a man on third

with no outs.”

The Reds still scored two runs in the first on a low, 2-iron home run by Yasiel Puig off Shane Bieber, but who knows if Bieber sticks around if he's tagged for three or four runs out of the chute? As it was, the newly named All-star allowed only four hits over eight innings as the Tribe won its fifth game in a row.

“As a catcher, I look at it this way — (defense) is a gamechanger,” said Perez, whose two-run homer in the eighth inning broke a 2-2 tie.

Mercado’s catch was the first of several defensive highlights for both teams. Indians All-star shortstop Francisco Lindor wheeled from his knees and two-hopped a throw that beat Jose Iglesias in the second inning.

“His ability to make certain plays. His internal clock. He plays the position incredible,” Mercado said of Lindor, who also went deep twice for his third

multihomer game of the season.

Iglesias performed his own defensive magic in the third by throwing out Carlos Santana at first.

Not to be forgotten was Nick Senzel’s offbalance catch in deep center to rob Lindor of extra bases in the third, and Jake Bauers’ sliding catch in left field that took a single from Iglesias in the seventh.

“Defense wins games,” Lindor said, shrugging.

It also wins divisions. The Indians are 6½ games behind the Minnesota Twins in the American League Central with a Sunday game against Cincinnati before the All-star break. The Reds trail the Chicago Cubs by 4 games in the National League Central.

Is this a tease? Or are both teams for real? It should be an interesting second half. Played by especially gifted athletes.

roller@dispatch.com @rollercd