Disastrous nine-run fourth inning brings Twins another loss to Reds

It was a tough fourth inning for Simeon Woods Richardson and Louie Varland.

Cincinnati Reds center fielder TJ Friedl (29) runs the bases after hitting a two-run home run as Minnesota Twins relief pitcher Louie Varland (37) watches in the fourth inning at Target Field in Minneapolis on Sept. 14, 2024. / Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images

The good news is the Minnesota Twins had Carlos Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis all in the same lineup Saturday night for the first time since July 2. The bad news is for the second straight night, any hope of a victory died with a disastrous multi-run inning from the Cincinnati Reds. 

The Reds went all the way through the order and then some, plating nine runs in the fourth inning of an 11-1 blowout over the Twins in front of 28,881 at Target Field in Minneapolis. The Twins fell to the Reds on Friday night after giving up six runs in the seventh inning of an eventual 8-4 defeat.

"That was a tough game to watch, play in, manage, coach, the whole thing, so after the halfway point we're really just — you have to find a way to get through the game in the easiest way possible," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.

In silver linings for the Twins (78-70), the Detroit Tigers also lost to the Baltimore Orioles Saturday, so they remain 2.5 games ahead of the Tigers for the final American League wild-card spot.

Simeon Woods Richardson had just masterfully escaped a no-out, bases-loaded jam in the third inning to preserve a 1-0 Twins lead, but the Twins went down in order in the bottom of the frame. Woods Richardson quickly found himself in trouble again in the fourth inning.

Spencer Steer drew a walk to lead off the inning, TJ Friedl singled the next at-bat and the Reds (73-77) plated the tying run when Ty France scored Steer and reached on an infield single an at-bat later. 

That was it for Woods Richardson, who fell to 5-5 after giving up three runs off five hits while fanning three in three innings. Woods Richardson hasn't made it five innings since Aug. 21, and his stuff has been dropping as the rookie has reached 128 innings, the most he's ever pitched.

"September is the (latest) time I've ever pitched, but knowing that, who cares?" he said. "Like I said, I've got to go out there and battle and compete."

Louie Varland came on in relief but gave up a two-run, ground-rule double to Noelvi Marte, a two-run single to Jonathan India, a two-run double to Steer and a two-run homer to Friedl, making it 9-1 Reds.

“He wasn’t missing the bats that he normally does when the stuff is really good like that," Baldelli said of Varland. "We’re still gonna need to go to him. He’s still going to be a guy that we’re going to have to go to in important spots to keep the game where it’s at, to keep leads, to do things like that. He’s going to have to do all these things for us, so I don’t want to let this outing deter him, or it’s not going to deter me in any way. But we got to get him right.” 

Jake Fraley hit a 380-foot solo homer off Scott Blewett in the fifth inning to make it 10-1, and Will Benson hit an RBI single off Caleb Thielbar in the eighth inning to add another to the beatdown. 

In all, the Reds turned 15 hits into the 11 runs.

Kyle Farmer pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning. He was the only Twins pitcher to not allow a run Saturday.

Despite the fourth-inning disaster, the impact of the returns of Buxton and Correa were clear early on. Buxton beat out the throw to first on an RBI infield single in the first inning to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.

Correa helped turned a 4-6-3 double play in the second inning and doubled in the fourth inning. 

Both Buxton and Correa finished their nights 1 for 2 — with Buxton plating the Twins' lone run — but both went to the bench after their at-bats in the fourth inning with the game already well out of reach.