The Twins finally are in the win column again after they beat the Cincinnati Reds 3-1 on Saturday. The win ends a brutal eight-game stretch in which the team was swept by the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees.
GAME: Twins 3, Reds 1. Odorizzi goes six. Duke, Reed, Rodney do their jobs. Losing streak over
— LaVelle E. Neal III (@LaVelleNeal) April 28, 2018
They came home Friday to play the Reds and the Reds quickly played spoiler, scoring 15 runs on 20 hits. The Twins kept pace with 14 hits of their own, and even took a 5-1 lead in Friday’s game, buy finally fell to the Reds after the bullpen was mauled for several runs late in the game.
After the less than stellar pitching in Friday’s game, Jake Odorizzi gave the Twins six innings on Saturday and limited the Reds to one run. But the bullpen remains shaky. Despite earning his third save of the season, Rodney still walked two batters before he could close out the game.
And the offense remains inconsistent. After a breakout night with the bats on Friday, the Twins scored three runs on eight hits on Saturday and were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position.
Jose Berrios gets the ball Sunday.
Extra innings…
-Bad news on the injury front. Byron Buxton, who landed on the disabled list because of migraine headaches, now has a hairline fracture in a toe. Miguel Sano is also dealing with hamstring tightness.
-Former Twins prospect Daniel Palka had a good night for the Chicago White Sox on Friday. Palka went 4-for-5, including a home run, in an 8-0 win over the Kansas City Royals. Palka hit 34 home runs for the Twins’ Double-A and Triple-A affiliates in 2016, but he also struck out 186 times, according to Baseball Reference.com.
-Logan Morrison’s bat is coming around. He has three hits, including a home run, in the first two games against the Reds.