Twins batter Martinez, Reds miss out on sweep

Twins 12 Reds 5

The Twins hammered Nick Martinez for three homers in the first two innings, and seven runs over 2.2 innings to snap the Reds (39-36) four game win streak.

In all, the Twins jacked four homers, six doubles and collected 17 hits on the day. Byron Buxton homered to lead off the game for the 2nd day in a row…..and homered again in the 2nd inning for a four HR series. Ryan Jeffers crushed a 448-foot 8th inning shot off Tyler Rogers. 10 of their 12 runs came with 2 outs.

The Reds trailed 7-2 3rd, cut to 7-4 in 3rd, Twins pushed to 9-4 in 4th, cut to 9-5 in 7th, trailed 11-5 in 8th   

Martinez: 2.2 IN, 7 H, 7 R, 1 BB, 4 K, 3 HR, 52 pitches. 
1st: Buxton leadoff HR. 2nd: Clemens HR, Buxton HR. 3rd: 3 R.  
5 balls off bat at 102.7+…B-B 3 HR starts. ERA 4.55. 

Entering the game with a bullpen that wasn’t used Wednesday night, Terry Francona seemed to wave the white flag and punt. There wasn’t even action in the pen to start the 3rd.

Offense: 10 H, 1 BB, 10 K. 
2 more 2-out runs. MLB best 61 1st inning runs. 
Friedl: 3 H, 2 R, RBI
Stephenson: H, RBI, R
Steer: 2 H, RBI 
Lux: 2-R HR 
McLain: H, R. 7 game hit streak.
Joe: 9 pitch pinch-hit BB 7th.
Elly: Hitless in the series (0-10)
CES: Hit snapped 0 for 11.

Bullpen: 6.1 IN, 5 R
Richardson 1.0, 2 R, Suter 1.1, 0 R, Gibaut 1.2, 0 R, Rogers 1.0, 2 R, Mey 1.1. R.
4 relievers: Richardson, Suter, Gibaut and Mey each threw at least 31 pitches.
Gotta think they'll need a fresh arm from Louisville before Friday night.

How they scored: 
1st 2-out RBI 1B Stephenson, 2-out RBI 2B Steer, 2-1 Reds 
3rd Lux 2-R HR, 7-4 Twins
7th Friedl RBI 1B, 9-5 Twins

Defense:
Heck of a running catch in LF by Steer

Attendance: 27,306