Pinch hitter Dane Myers’ bloop single scored Spencer Steer in the top of the ninth inning as the Cincinnati Reds rallied for a 5-4 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday in Minneapolis.
Kyle Nicolas (1-0) struck out all three batters in the eighth inning for Cincinnati. Tony Santillan pitched a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth and earned his first save of the season as the Reds have won the first two games of the three-game set.
Minnesota manager Derek Shelton was ejected in the top of the seventh after Elly De La Cruz’s RBI single scored Rece Hinds to trim the Twins’ lead to 4-3. Shelton was upset De La Cruz was ruled to have checked his swing a pitch earlier.
An inning later, the Reds tied the game at 4 when Hinds’ sacrifice fly scored Eugenio Suarez. Cole Sands (0-1) allowed Myers’ game-winning hit in the ninth.
Minnesota took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning. Austin Martin walked with one out and Josh Bell singled to right. Ryan Jeffers knocked them both in with a triple to the left-center gap. Bell and Luke Keaschall each collected two hits for the Twins.
Tyler Stephenson’s sacrifice fly to center field scored Sal Stewart and cut the Twins’ lead to 2-1 in the top of the second.
In the bottom of the third, Martin reached on an error and was eventually plated on Keaschall’s line drive to shallow right field to push Minnesota’s lead to 3-1.
Cincinnati pulled within 3-2 in the top of the fourth. Suarez doubled with one out and moved to third on Nathaniel Lowe’s ground out. On an 0-2 pitch, Stephenson drove a hanging cutter into left field for a single to score Suarez. Suarez and Lowe both had two hits.
Bell led off the bottom of the fifth with a single. After a two-out walk to Trevor Larnach, the Reds went to the bullpen. Reliever Sam Moll gave up an RBI single to Brooks Lee that scored Bell to once again restore Minnesota’s two-run lead at 4-2.
Reds starting pitcher Andrew Abbott gave up four runs (three earned), six hits, walked three and struck out three in 4 2/3 innings. Twins starter Taj Bradley allowed two runs, five hits, walked two and struck out five in six innings.
–Field Level Media
