CINCINNATI (Interstat) — Joey Cantillo delivered four scoreless innings with eight strikeouts and Kyle Manzardo hit a two-run homer Wednesday night as the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Cincinnati Reds 6-1 at Great American Ball Park before 17,084 in a game that lasted 2 hours, 56 minutes.

Cantillo, who had struggled in his previous two starts, allowed four hits while walking none. He struck out the side in the first inning, fanning Elly De La Cruz, Eugenio Suárez and Tyler Stephenson. Cantillo’s outing marked a return to form after he gave up five earned runs in 3 2/3 innings at Tampa Bay on July 24 and four earned runs in five innings against Pittsburgh on July 19.

The Guardians (56-54) broke a scoreless tie with four runs in the fifth inning. Steven Kwan reached on a fielding error by shortstop De La Cruz. José Ramírez then reached on a fielder’s choice that put Kwan at second. After Chase DeLauter walked to load the bases, Travis Bazzana lined a single to left field, scoring Kwan to make it 1-0. Brayan Rocchio struck out, but Manzardo walked to force in Ramírez. Gabriel Arias then walked to bring home DeLauter. Patrick Bailey followed with a sacrifice fly to right field that scored Bazzana, giving Cleveland a 4-0 lead.

The Reds (50-57) got their only run in the sixth inning. Dane Myers was hit by a pitch, and after Suárez struck out, Stephenson singled to put runners at first and second. Noelvi Marte singled to center, scoring Myers to cut the lead to 4-1. The rally ended there as Ivan Johnson and Edwin Arroyo both struck out.

Cleveland answered in the seventh. Manzardo led off with his 13th home run, a fly ball to right center field. Arias followed with a double, advanced to third on a single by Petey Halpin and scored on a sacrifice fly by Kwan.

Cleveland’s bullpen took over after Cantillo’s four innings and did not allow a hit. Matt Festa struck out two in a perfect fifth; Erik Sabrowski, the winning pitcher, struck out two in two-thirds of an inning; Hunter Gaddis struck out one in the seventh; Colin Holderman worked a perfect eighth; and Cade Smith struck out two in a perfect ninth. The Guardians used eight pitchers total, and the staff combined for 15 strikeouts against 65 balls and 15 balls in play.

Cincinnati starter Brady Singer, the losing pitcher, allowed six hits and no earned runs over 4 1/3 innings, striking out three. He left after the fifth-inning rally, which included the error by De La Cruz that made all four runs unearned. Julian Garcia struck out one in 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and Caleb Ferguson and Pierce Johnson each worked scoreless appearances.

Cleveland outhit Cincinnati 12-6. The Guardians had two sacrifice flies, while the Reds had none. The win gave Cleveland a split of the two-game series after they lost 2-0 on Tuesday and won 6-5 on Monday. Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt and Cincinnati manager David Bell did not comment after the game.

Interstat’s game simulator projected a final score of Cincinnati 6, Cleveland 3. Interstat’s ELO system gave Cleveland a 51.40 percent probability to win. Cleveland was a pregame favorite with a spread of minus 1½ runs, and the total runs scored of seven went over the over-under line of 9.