Twins Rally To Take Series Ruined Hunter Greene's Dominate Start

 

The Reds bullpen collapsed in the eighth and ninth inning and the Minnesota Twins rallied for a 5-3 win to prevent the Reds 80th win and take the series.

Jorge Polanco rolled a bases loaded single through the Reds' infield against Sam Moll to send the Twins home closer to clinching the American League Central title.

Hunter Greene struck out a career-high 14 batters in seven innings.

The top three Twins' batters in the order struck out seven times against the Reds' starter. Greene pitched seven innings for the second time this season. He allowed one run on three hits and a walk. 

The 14 strikeouts were the most by a Reds' pitcher since Ron Villone struck out 16 batters in St. Louis on September 29, 2000.

"I'm not really focused on my performance," Greene said. "Days like today are really frustrating. It is where we are in the season. Each game I pitch, this one and the next one, I feel like is the most important of my life. I haven't won anything since high school. I haven't felt this way in a very long time."

Greene pitched out of a first and third, no-out situation in the third after retiring the first six Twins' batters. Andrew Stevenson, who was in the lineup replacing the injured Royce Lewis, doubled to open the third. Christian Vazquez soft line drive to right was nearly caught by Will Benson on a diving try, it sent Stevenson to third. Michael A Taylor bunted in front of the plate. Luke Maile fielded and checked the runner at third before throwing Taylor out. Greene struck out Edouard Julien and Jorge Blanco to escape.

The Reds went to work against Twins's starter Bailey Ober, the 6'9" hurler. Will Benson walked to lead off. He moved to second on a ground out. Jonathan India was hit in the left shoulder by Ober's pitch. TJ Friedl singled to score Benson with the Reds' first hit, scoring the Reds' first run in 11 innings. 

Christian Encarnacion-Strand launched his ninth home run to open the fourth. 

Willi Castro broke Greene's spell with his ninth home run of the season into the right field stands to cut the lead to 2-1. 

Benson led off the bottom of the seventh with a triple off the top of the wall in right center. Luke Maile attempted to bunt. The ball popped in front of the plate and Maile was thrown out at first. The Reds challenged and ruling indicated that the ball hit the bat then Maile's finger making it a foul ball. Maile singled Benson home with the reprieve.

David Bell made the decision to remove Greene before the bottom of the seventh but the long inning would have contributed to the choice to go the choice to go to the bullpen.

"That last inning (bottom of the seventh) was like super, super long. I'm not saying I couldn't go out and still be fresh but the momentum that I gained and sitting down for awhile, I definitely feel it was the right move," Greene said. "Those guys are making the decisions. I can't get caught up in that. I trust all those guys and I trust David Bell."

"It was really a tough call (to take Greene out)," Bell said. "I made the decision before the long inning. As the inning went longer, I would have probably made it in the middle of the inning any way. But I did make it before the long inning."

Ian Gibaut gave up a lead off double to Vazquez and a one-out single to Julien to make it a one-run contest.

Alexis Diaz pitched the ninth to attempt his 38th save in 40 chances.

Castro bunted for a hit to open the ninth. He stole second and went to third on a throwing error by Maile. Kyle Farmer dropped a single into right field to tie the game. Diaz got Stevenson to pop out to third but walked Vazquez. David Bell brought left hander Sam Moll in to face Trevor Larnach, who was called up from St. Paul to replace the injured Carlos Correa on the roster.

"It doesn't happen very much with Alexis that a team comes back and ties it. Do I think he could have stayed in and got it done? Of course but we had Sam ready to go. Where they were in the lineup,their bats were left handed. I thought Sam gave us the best chance,". Bell said.

The Twins pulled a double steal Farmer stole third and Vazquez moved up on the back end to put runners on second and third with one out. Moll struck out Larnach on a check swing. The Reds intentionally walked pinch hitter Ryan Jeffers. Polanco grounded a two-run single to right field. 

"The throw on Castro was a little low," Maile said. "It was a hit and run. The pitch was down and away and I had to reach for it so it definitely wasn't my b"est throw. Him going to third base sped up the inning a little bit. On the double steal, we were way over. We were playing a really heavy shift. You have to make a little bit of a decision of whether to try to throw a bullet or kind of a make a QB type throw. It all depends on what kind of break the third baseman gets. The play was kind of tricky but I think Farmer being a former catcher, as saavy as he is. he knows what kind of play it takes."

Twins' closer Jhoan Duran issued a lead off walk in the eighth bu struck out two to pick up the win to improve to 3-6.  

Griffin Jax pitched the ninth to earn his third save.

The Reds are 79-75. They are at the moment 1 1/2 games out of the third wild card spot in the playoffs with eight to play.

The teams ahead of them are Philadelphia five games ahead of the Reds and in the first wild card position. Arizona in the second wild card position, two games ahead of the Reds. They are leading San Francisco 3-1 in the fifth inning. Chicago with 11 games left play Pittsburgh tonight. The Cubs are a game and a half ahead of the Reds for the third and final wild card spot. The Miami Marlins play the Mets tonight. They have 11 games left and are one game ahead of the Reds in fourth place in the wild card race one game in front of the Reds.

"They're all important at this point," Bell said. "There is no question about that. They hurt but at the same time, we remain really excited and positive about our chances. It all comes down to how we play. They are increasingly important. We have an off day tomorrow. We come back we have time to get it done."