Reds vs. Twins: Pitching preview, prediction, and more

The Reds look to rebound as they visit the Twin Cities.

We’ve seen this movie before, Reds County. The Cincinnati Reds (35-35) visit the West Coast playing good baseball only to leave the Pacific Time Zone with their heads reeling from a beatdown courtesy of a team from the Golden State.

This time it was compliments of the San Diego Padres, who launched homers around Petco Park as if they were taking extended batting practice. The three-game sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers to open the road trip seems like a distant memory at this point.

Despite the resiliency of the offense to battle back from late-game deficits against the Friars bullpen, the Reds relief corps continually surrendered late-innings, back-breaking round-trippers to an explosive San Diego lineup. Once again, this Cincinnati roster’s most significant weakness was on full display.

During the four-game sweep to San Diego, the Reds’ bullpen allowed 11 runs on 15 hits, walking six and surrendering four long balls. Three of the homers were the difference makers yielded in the eighth inning or later on Thursday and Saturday night.

Amazingly, the Redlegs lost only two games in the standings over the past four days and trail the Chicago Cubs and Milwaukee Brewers by 4 games in the National League Central as play begins today. On the opposite end of the spectrum are the Minnesota Twins (30-41), who swept a three-game set from the Texas Rangers in Arlington over the Father’s Day Weekend.

However, it’s been tough sledding for the Twins this season.  Coming off consecutive playoff appearances, Minnesota has struggled to avoid the basement of the American League Central during the 2021 campaign.

Target Field has not provided much comfort for the Twins as they are just 14-21 playing in front of their home fans. However, Target Field holds fond memories for the Redlegs. Cincinnati clinched their first playoff berth in seven years last season, defeating Minnesota in during the last week of September.