In a game where a cornucopia of runs were scored in the early innings, the Reds held off the Twins to claim a series-opening 11-7 victory on Monday night at Great American Ball Park.
Cincinnati, which was coming off being swept by the Mets while scoring only four runs in three games, built a 9-1 run lead through three innings. As 10 men batted in a five-run Reds third, Eugenio Suarez hit a two-run double to center field as Twins starter Mike Pelfrey’s final batter. Later in the inning with the bases loaded against Alex Meyer, Joey Votto hit a two-run single. Every Reds position player had at least one hit in the game, including Tucker Barnhart with a 4-for-5 night.
Pelfrey finished with eight earned runs and nine hits allowed over two-plus innings. But a smooth night it wasn’t for Reds starter Mike Leake, who gave up seven earned runs as 10 men batted for Minnesota in a six-run fourth. With two outs, Danny Santana hit a RBI single before Brian Dozier’s three-run homer to left-center field made it a 9-7 game. Leake was out after four innings with nine hits on his line.
“We had a nice little rally there against Leake and made it interesting but we kind of sputtered from there,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “Our bullpen gave up a couple. So it was just a long game and we gave up a lot of hits. It wasn’t very fun to watch.”
The Reds, who set a season high for a nine-inning game with 17 hits, made it a three-run game in the sixth when Suarez laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt and reached on a single as Marlon Byrd scored. The bullpen kept the Twins quiet, and hitless, over the final five innings. Reliever Nate Adcock’s two scoreless innings earned him the victory, and he was followed by Manny Parra’s two perfect innings and Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the ninth.
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