Major League Baseball

Reds 8, Indians 6

Published Mar. 5, 2012 1:08 a.m. ET

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Ubaldo Jimenez feels like he did in the spring of 2010 when he won 19 games and pitched a no-hitter in spite of a subpar first outing.

Jimenez allowed five runs, only one earned, in one inning in his spring debut on Sunday and the Cincinnati Reds earned an 8-6 victory over the Cleveland Indians.

The Indians obtained Jimenez at the trade deadline last season after a 6-9 start at Colorado. He was 4-4 in 11 starts with Cleveland after the deal.

''It doesn't look good in the papers but I threw the ball good,'' Jimenez said. ''They kept hitting bloopers. Only one guy hit the ball hard. People that know baseball know that things like this happen.''

Jimenez put on 8 pounds of muscle on his lower body over the winter. Now at 218 pounds, he is working on getting his stride down to have a better season than last year's injury-filled one.

''The hitters will tell you he has good stuff,'' Cleveland manager Manny Acta said. ''They were choppers and bloopers because a lot of guys were getting jammed.''

Homer Bailey and Aroldis Chapman, competing for the fifth spot in the Reds' rotation, each pitched two innings.

Chapman is being converted to a starting pitcher after working out of the bullpen the past two seasons.

Chapman allowed one run in two innings. He gave up two hits and a walk and struck out three.

Shelley Duncan hit a three-run home run off Bailey. Duncan is trying to earn the starting left field job for Cleveland.

Bailey was also working on his pitches. He walked Russ Canzler on a 3-2 curve ball to set up Duncan's shot to left field.

''I thought it was a good high fastball but Shelley got on top of it somehow,'' Bailey said. ''The walk hurt more. The 2-2 pitch was close and I would have never thrown a 3-2 curve ball with a five-run lead in the regular season.''

Chapman was also working on pitches besides his 100 mph-plus fastball.

''I used all my pitches but I didn't use the fastball as much as I wanted,'' Chapman said.

Dioner Navarro homered for Cincinnati. Navarro is trying to get back the form that made him an All-Star catcher for Tampa Bay in 2008.

''You know it's in there,'' Dusty Baker said. ''We just need to find a way to get it out of him again.''

Notes: Russ Canzler had two hits for Cleveland. ... Ryan Madson signed with the Reds to be the closer, but he hasn't pitched yet. ''He has some soreness in his elbow,'' Reds manager Dusty Baker said. ''He was checked out by doctors today. He should be ready in three or four days.''

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