The Minnesota Twins brought out the big lumber while scoring an 12-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds before 27,306 at Great American Ball Park.
| Final | R | H | E |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minnesota Twins (37-37) | 12 | 17 | 0 |
| Cincinnati Reds (39-36) |
5 | 10 | 0 |
| W: Paddack (3-6) L: Martinez (4-8) |
|||
| Statcast | Box Score | Game Thread | |||
The Twins scorched 15 pitches from Reds hurlers at 100 mph or more as they scored early and often. Remember those old animated commercials in which a bat hits a baseball hard and the ball screams out loud, with its tongue flapping in the wind, as it flies out of the park? That was how Minnesota ended a four-game Cincinnati winning streak.
The loss leaves Cincinnati at 39-36, with their divisional opponents’ games still in progress. As this post goes live, the Reds are 7 games behind the first-place Cubs (who trail Milwaukee 8-3 in the fifth inning), one-half game behind the Brewers, and tied with St. Louis (playing a doubleheader today against the Chicago White Sox). And, they currently sit one game behind San Diego, 1/2 game behind the Brewers and tied with the Cardinals in the Wild Card standings.
The Offense
The box-score batting line: 10-for-37 (.270), one walk, 10 strikeouts, and five runs. With runners in scoring position, they batted 2-for-7.
Down by a run in the bottom of the first, the Reds struck against Twins starter Chris Paddack. T.J. Friedl led off with a double to left. Two outs later, Tyler Stephenson grounded one past third baseman Brooks Lee to tie the score. Spencer Steer followed with a double into the left-field corner which scored Stephenson for a 2-1 Cincinnati lead.
Down 7-2 in the bottom of the third, Friedl led off with a single, and Gavin Lux powered one over the fence in right to pull within 7-4.
Cincinnati scored its fifth run in the bottom of the seventh on a two-out single by Matt McLain, a wild pitch to advance him to second, and Friedl’s third hit of the game to score McLain. That was against righty reliever Cole Sands. Lefty Danny Coulombe was summoned to face Lux, and Francona responded by pinch-hitting Connor Joe for Lux. Joe drew a walk on a nine-pitch at-bat to put two runners on for Elly De La Cruz, who struck out swinging to extend his hitless string for the series.
Friedl, who is this team’s MVP to this point, batted 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored. Steer had two hits to raise his batting average to .230.
The Pitching
The box-score pitching composite: 9 innings, 12 runs (all earned), 17 hits, 10 strikeouts, 8 walks and 4 homers allowed.
For the second straight game, Twins leadoff batter Byron Buxton hit a leadoff homer to give his team a 1-0 lead. Presented with a 2-1 lead in the second innings, starter Nick Martinez walked Ryan Jeffers with two out, followed by a two-run bomb to right by Kody Clemens for a 3-2 Twins lead. Buxton followed that with his second solo shot in as many innings for a 4-2 Minnesota lead.
Four hits and three Twins runs in the third inning put the visitors up 7-2, and spelled an early end of the day for Martinez. He went 2 2/3 innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits, including three homers. It is the second consecutive game he allowed three longballs.
Lyon Richardson got the final out of the third, but then surrendered two two-out runs in the top of the fourth. Those runs offset the two the Reds scored in the bottom of the third on Lux’s home run, and left the Reds trailing 9-4. Manager Terry Francona then decided to replace Richardson with Brent Suter, who recorded the third out. Suter’s 1 1/3 innings were scoreless because he got Trevor Larnach to line out sharply to Matt McLain with the bases loaded to end the fifth.
Ian Gibaut pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings, but was relieved with two outs in the seventh when he ran into pitch-count issues. Taylor Rogers got the final out of the inning, but allowed a two-run blast to Jeffers in the eighth. Luis Mey was summoned with two outs in the eighth to face Buxton, who appeared to just miss a pitch that could have been his third homer of the game, but instead settled into Steer’s glove in left field. Mey issued a bases-loaded walk (his third of the inning) in the ninth for the Twins’ 12th and final run.
One Fan’s Thoughts
Despite today’s result, the Reds are on the right track as they work their way through the most difficult portion of their schedule. They are 10-6 in June, having won their fourth series in a row. Overall, they’ve won 18 of their past 29. When you’re in a streak of facing teams all at or above .500, taking each series is the most reasonable goal to have. That’s been the case in the past four. If they keep up the streak of winning consecutive series, they will almost certainly begin July in prime position to determine their own fate in the playoff chase.
Now it’s time to go to St. Louis and do some damage to a team with which they are neck-and-neck in the division standings. On the telecast, John Sadak said the last time the Reds won a season series of games played at Busch Stadium was 2006. So that has been a problem — as have matchups with nearly all NL Central teams over the past decade or so (at least it seems that way). But if the Reds can continue playing at the same pace they have for the past month, everything will take care of itself.
Up Next for the Cincinnati Reds
Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals
Friday, June 20, 7:15 p.m. ET
Brady Singer (7-4, 4.34 ERA) vs. Andre Pallante (4-3, 4.83 ERA)
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