Ohio Cup
Cincinnati Reds
Cleveland Guardians
| |
| Location | Ohio |
|---|---|
| First meeting | June 16, 1997 Jacobs Field, Cleveland Reds 4, Indians 1 |
| Latest meeting | June 11, 2025 Progressive Field, Cleveland Guardians 11, Reds 2 |
| Next meeting | TBA |
| Stadiums | Reds: Great American Ball Park Guardians: Progressive Field |
| Trophy | Guardians 7 Reds 5 Tie 6 (all retained by the Guardians) |
| Statistics | |
| Meetings total | 141 |
| Most wins | Guardians |
| Regular season series | Guardians, 77–64 (.546) |
| Largest victory | |
| Longest win streak | |
| Current win streak | Guardians, 1 |
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 to meet at that time was 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. As of the 2025 season the Guardians lead the regular-season series 77–64. The Reds currently hold the trophy and have done so since the 2025 season by virtue of either series wins or retention via tie.