Naquin’s blast saves Reds ’pen for a day
The Cincinnati Reds didn’t look drained to manager David Bell, despite this recent slide.
The boss was right, because the Reds had plenty of energy left for a late surge against Minnesota after the Twins took a game of back-and-forth rallies the night before.
Tyler Naquin went 4 for 4 with a three-run homer that broke a ninth-inning tie right after the ragged Cincinnati bullpen lost a fiverun lead, and the Reds beat the Twins 10-7 to stop their five-game losing streak on Tuesday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Amir Garrett got his fourth save in six chances with a scoreless ninth after fellow relievers Art Warren, Lucas Sims and Tejay Antone stumbled through a five-run eighth for Minnesota, which had its season-long fivegame winning streak end.
“We keep pulling for each other, keep showing up, keep playing hard,” said Naquin, who joined the Reds in February on a minor league deal.
Max Kepler hit a two-run homer, Trevor Larnach added a solo shot and Alex Kirilloff had the tying two-run double off Antone (20), but the right-hander in his first game back from the injured list recovered to record the last two outs of the inning.
Tucker Barnhart homered and had three RBIs and Jesse Winker hit a two-run double for the Reds, whose relief ERA (5.70) is the worst in the major leagues.
BLUE JAYS 2, MARLINS 1>> Cavan Biggio and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. doubled on consecutive pitches to break a ninth-inning tie for Toronto in Miami. The hits came with one out against Yimi García (3-6), who entered the game after Sandy Alcantara stymied the Blue Jays while throwing only 86 pitches in eight innings.