Resilient Reds seek to stay hot in matchup vs. tumbling Twins

The Cincinnati Reds haven’t had a lot of luck this season with late rallies, save for their last two games.

The Reds will look to extend their winning streak to four games when they host the slumping Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night in the second contest of a three-game series.

Cincinnati came from behind to record an 8-4 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday after scoring six runs in the final two innings. Two days later, the Reds rallied from a pair of one-run deficits to post a 6-5 victory over the Twins.

The Reds scored four times in the fourth inning to erase a one-run deficit on Tuesday before allowing four unearned runs in the sixth to cough up the lead again. The Reds rebounded by scoring two in the bottom of the inning to take the lead for good.

Cincinnati was 0-29 before Sunday when trailing after seven innings.

“When they say the same thing will make you laugh will make you cry, I know what they mean,” Cincinnati manager Terry Francona said. “We fought back off (Brock Stewart) that (hadn’t) given up a hit against a right-handed hitter until tonight. So we did some good things, made some mistakes, but we did some really good things.”

Cincinnati also scored all six runs with two outs Tuesday.

“I just think they’re in a good place where they’re fighting, which again, it’s not always going to be perfect, but they’re fighting, and I like that a lot,” Francona said.

The Reds will send left-hander Nick Lodolo (4-5, 3.76 ERA) to the mound Wednesday. He saw his winless stretch extend to four starts after allowing six runs on five hits over 3 1/3 innings in an 11-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians last Wednesday.

Lodolo will start against Minnesota for the first time in his career.

The Twins will counter with right-hander Bailey Ober (4-3, 4.40 ERA) on Wednesday. He yielded seven runs on six hits, including four home runs, and walked six in a 16-3 drubbing by the Texas Rangers on Thursday.

Ober will face the Reds for the fourth time in his career, and the second time in Cincinnati. He is 0-1 with a 6.19 ERA in three career starts against them.

While the Reds have won three straight games and eight of their past 10, the Twins have lost five games in a row and nine of their last 11.

Minnesota’s sixth-inning meltdown with two outs Tuesday led to the team’s seventh straight loss in one-run games.

“It’s a very winnable game for us, and we know it,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “Probably a few things we could have done during the game to help ourselves and help our cause. Truthfully, it’s a game where we can focus more looking at ourselves and the fundamentals of the game.”

Twins catcher Ryan Jeffers sustained a right hand contusion that forced him out in the fifth inning. X-rays were negative, and Jeffers indicated he hopes to play Wednesday.

“The pain was probably too much to keep playing, but no break,” Jeffers said. “Grip strength is fine, so we should be good to go (Wednesday).”

–Field Level Media