Cincinnati’s Mr. Clutch, TJ Friedl, ripped a two-out, two-run double in the sixth inning to provide the Reds with a 6-5 victory.
And most importantly, it kept the Reds’ momentum going like a boulder rolling downhill.
It was their eighth win in their last 10 games and on this night they had to come back not once, but twice, to hand Minnesota its fifth straight loss, the last three by one run.
About falling behind, 1-0, grabbing the lead, 4-1, falling behind again, 5-4, then snatching back the lead, 6-5, manager Tito Francona said, “That was like they (say) the same thing that makes you laugh makes you cry.”
The Reds managed only five hits, but scored all six runs with two outs as they scrambled three games above .500 (38-37), tying their season high.
So is momentum a real thing?
“Yes, it’s real. You better believe it,” said Friedl.
It was a Night of the Bizarre from start to finish.
Minnesota starter David Festa had a no-hitter for three innings and was gone midway through the fourth.
Cincinnati’s Will Benson drove one deep to center with two outs in the second and Byron Buxton leaped above the wall to rob Benson of a home run.
Then Buxton batted in the top of the third and hit one to deep center that Friedl nearly snagged, but it cleared the wall and Minnesota led, 1-0.
Festa walked two in the bottom of the fourth, and with two outs and a 3-and-2 count, Benson drilled a two-out double up the left-center gap for a 2-1 lead.
The bizarre? Spencer Steer struck out for the third out, but catcher Ryan Jeffers missed the ball and Steer sprinted to first and stole second.
Then Jake Fraley delivered a two-run single and it was 4-1.
A 4-1 lead for Reds starter Andrew Abbott is like a fortune locked up in a bank vault. But not on this night and not his fault.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Bizarre: With two outs and nobody on in the Minnesota sixth, Ty France hit an easy grounder to third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand. He took two hop steps and threw the ball high, wide and ugly for an error.
Brooks Lee extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a single and Trevor Larnach singled to make it 4-2.
Bizarre: Harrison Bader, who played 57 games for the Reds last season, hit a deep fly to right. Fraley leaped for it, and the ball hit his glove and bounced over the wall, a three-run homer. And Minnesota led, 5-4.
“It was a difficult play and Fraley got turned around and that made it more difficult,” said Francona.
Bizarre: The Reds had two outs and nobody on in the bottom of the sixth. Fraley singled and Matt McLain singled.
Friedl lashed his double to right center, a hit on which right fielder Matt Wallner, who had just entered the game, tried to make a diving catch and missed it. Reds lead, 6-5.
“We fought back,” said Francona. “We did some good things. We made some mistakes, but we did some real good things.
“We’re in a good place where we’re fightin’ and it’s not always gonna be perfect, but they’re fightin’ and I like that a lot.”
Now there was another problem. Reds relief pitcher Graham Ashcraft went on the injured list with a groin strain before the game.
That added extra duty for Scott Barlow, who isn’t a workhorse, he is a Clydesdale. He has pitched more relief innings than any bullpenner in MLB.
He entered the game after Bader’s home run and struck out Wallner. Then he pitched a 1-2-3 seventh with two strikeouts.
Bizarre: Tony Santillan pitched the eighth and with one out hit Ty France, a ‘hit me with a pitch’ specialist. It was the 118th time in his career he was hit by a pitch.
Base-stealer deluxe DeShawn Keirsey Jr. ran for France. Brooks Lee fouled off seven pitches and on the 11th pitch, Keirsey broke for second. Lee swung and missed, a strikeout, and Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson threw out Keirsey.
“Barlow gave us four big outs,” said Francona. “It set it up where we didn’t have to reach for Tony Santillan for too much. Barlow was the biggest cog tonight.”
Closer Emilio Pagan did his diligent duty in the ninth, but made it, well, bizarre. He walked two batters for the first time in any appearance this season.
But with two outs and one on, he appeared to pitch around Buxton, Minnesota’s most dangerous hitter. Pagan walked him on four pitches.
Then he struck out Christian Vazquez to end it.
Bizarre: Minnesota has come back to win games 20 times this season and when it led, 5-4, it looked as if it would be 21. They had also lost seven times when they led after six innings. Now it’s eight.
And one-run games have not been good to either team. Minnesota was 7-12 and Cincinnati was 7-10. Now the Twins are 7-13 and the Reds are 8-10.
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