Cincinnati Reds Fall to Twins After Another Long Rain Delay

W: Phil Hughes (7-6)

L: Anthony DeSclafani (5-6)

SV: Glen Perkins (25)

A rain delay, a curious pitching decision by Bryan Price, and a Cincinnati Reds loss. Sounds like a typical game in 2015, huh? Tuesday’s game featured all that and more as the Reds fell to the Minnesota Twins, 8-5.

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Following a two hour rain delay that involved no actual precipitation, the Reds got into trouble two batters into the contest, as Torii Hunter hit a solo home run off of Anthony DeSclafani. The Reds’ rookie allowed another run in the second, but settled down after that, giving up a lone run for the remainder of his six innings of work and notching a quality start.

Well, that is, until Price sent the rookie out for the seventh with his pitch count at 102 against the top of the Twins’ order. DeSclafani and Burke Badenhop then combined to give up four runs, ultimately putting the game out of reach at 7-1. DeSclafani was ultimately charged with six earned runs on 11 hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 6.2 innings.

The seventh inning proved to be even more painful, as the Reds put up a four-spot in the bottom of the seventh. Marlon Byrd kicked the inning off with the Reds’ second solo home run of the night (the first came from Eugenio Suarez in the third to get the Reds on the board). Following a walk and an error, Ivan De Jesus Jr. singled in a run, another error brought in a third run, and a wild pitch cut the Reds’ deficit to two.

It would never get closer than that. The usually reliable J.J. Hoover allowed his first run since April 21 in the eighth and the Reds fans went home unhappy at 12:20 a.m. as the offense went down quietly in the ninth.

Other Notes:

• For the sixth time over his last eight starts, Suarez had a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4.
• Tucker Barnhart extended his hitting streak to six with a 1-for-3 effort. He’s 13-for-23 with four doubles over that stretch. Not bad for a catcher who was third on the Reds’ depth chart to start the year.
• It was another sloppy defensive game for the Reds. DeSclafani was the only one charged with an error, but Todd Frazier and Joey Votto both had a rough time of it as well.

Up Next: The Reds and Twins conclude their series at 12:35 p.m. ET on Wednesday. The rubber match will feature Johnny Cueto facing off against Trevor May. Enjoy these Cueto starts, Reds fans; we may only have a few of them left.

Next: Reds offense comes back to life in 11-7 win over Twins