MINNEAPOLIS – After scoring just one run through eight innings, the Reds rallied late twice to complete a three-game sweep at Target Field with a 7-4 victory over the Twins.
The go-ahead run scored in the 10th when Eugenio Suárez hit a one-out grounder that Minnesota third baseman Tristan Gray misplayed for an error. Left fielder Austin Martin then overran the ball, allowing automatic runner Elly De La Cruz to score after he’d initially stopped at third.
After Garrett Acton (1-1) struck out Spencer Steer, Will Benson was intentionally walked. That move backfired when Rece Hinds doubled into the left-field corner to drive in two more runs.
That was the Reds’ second three-run inning in a row. Trailing 3-1 in the top of the ninth, Steer led off with a single to right off reliever Andrew Morris, who was beginning his second inning of work in just his second Major League appearance.
Tyler Stephenson then worked the count full before singling to right-center. Hinds was retired on a fly ball for the first out, but Dane Myers drew a five-pitch walk to load the bases.
TJ Friedl then lined a pitch into right-center for a bases-clearing double. It was the first extra-base hit of the season for Friedl, who had driven in just one run up to that point.
However, Reds closer Emilio Pagán (2-0) gave up a leadoff double to James Outman, and after retiring Byron Buxton on a soft line drive to first, Martin tied the game with a double down the left-field line.
It was Pagán’s second blown save of the season – his first since the Reds’ second game of the year against Boston on March 28.
Graham Ashcraft pitched a scoreless 10th inning to earn his first career save. The game ended on an overturned called strike as Reds catcher P.J. Higgins, who had entered the game an inning earlier, challenged a 2-2 slider from Ashcraft that clipped the top of the zone.