Ohio Cup

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Ohio Cup

Cincinnati Reds Cleveland Guardians
Location	Ohio
First meeting	June 16, 1997[1] Jacobs Field, Cleveland Reds 4, Indians 1
Latest meeting	September 27, 2023[1] Progressive Field, Cleveland Guardians 4, Reds 3
Next meeting	June 11, 2024 Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati
Statistics
Meetings total	131 [2]
Most wins	Guardians
Regular season series	Guardians, 73–58 (.557)[1]
Largest victory	Reds, 14–5 (July 8, 2000)[3] Indians, 19–4 (July 11, 2018)[4]
Longest win streak	Reds, 4 (June 10, 2007–May 18, 2008; June 27, 2009–May 22, 2010; July 3, 2011–June 14, 2012)[1] Indians, 6 (June 27, 2010–July 2, 2011; July 18, 2015–May 19, 2016)[1]
Current win streak	Guardians, 1 [1]

100km
62miles

Guardians

Reds

  

Location of the Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Guardians

The Ohio Cup, also known as the Battle of Ohio and the Buckeye Series, is an annual interleague rivalry series between the two Major League Baseball (MLB) teams from the U.S. state of Ohio: the Cincinnati Reds of the National League (NL) and the Cleveland Guardians (formerly Indians) of the American League (AL). The series name comes from the trophy the teams play for, which was first introduced in 1989 for an annual pre-season exhibition game between the two teams, and later reintroduced in 2008. The cup is awarded to the team that wins the most games against the other in a particular season. In the event of a tie, the team holding the trophy from the previous season retains it.

Prior to the introduction of interleague play, the current Cincinnati and Cleveland franchises had only met in spring training or other exhibition games. Because the two teams play in opposite leagues, the only chance they can meet in the postseason is in the World Series. The Ohio Cup series was originally created in 1989 and was an exhibition game between the two teams played in the state capital of Columbus at Cooper Stadium just prior to the start of the season. A total of eight Ohio Cup games were played, from 1989 to 1996, with the Indians winning six. The games in Columbus were typically well-attended, with attendance topping the stadium's 15,000-seat capacity in all but one year.

The regular-season series began in 1997 with the start of interleague play and has been played every season since except 2002. From 1999 to 2001 and until 2012, the teams met in two three-game series per season, one in Cincinnati and one in Cleveland. Since 2013, two-and-two game series are played at each team's home field most years. In the years the AL Central plays the NL Central as part of the interleague play rotation, the teams usually meet in two three-game series, with the exception of 2020 despite the year falling on the AL vs NL Central rotation. Through the 2023 meetings, the Guardians lead the regular-season series 73–58. The Guardians currently hold the trophy, and have done so since the 2015 season by virtue of either series wins or retention via tie.