MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — TJ Friedl went 4 for 4 with a two-run homer and Nick Martinez pitched six strong innings for his third straight win as the Cincinnati Reds routed the scuffling Minnesota Twins 11-1 on Saturday night.
Jake Fraley had three hits for the Reds, including a solo homer. Cincinnati scored nine times in the fourth to put away the game early.
“That’s a playoff team, right? They’re right there. To be able to do that against a staff like that and a team that’s been playing well all year, it’s good for us,” Fraley said.
Minnesota remained 2 1/2 games ahead of Detroit for the final American League playoff berth but dropped 3 1/2 games behind Kansas City for the league’s second wild card.
“I think you’ve got to put it like, ‘Don’t play to give it up. Play to take it,’” Twins infielder Kyle Farmer said of the team’s mentality. “When we went to Cleveland last year around this time, we took it from them. It was just a different mindset. We have to get back towards that mindset of taking it rather than giving it up.”
Martinez (9-6) allowed one run and three hits with no walks and six strikeouts. In three September starts, he’s 3-0 with a 0.48 ERA.
“He knows how to pitch. He’s been on a great roll. He has a great changeup, but he has really six different pitches that he can use and throw for strikes,” Reds manager David Bell said.
Brent Suter pitched three scoreless innings to earn his second save of the season.
Byron Buxton had an RBI single for the Twins, who have lost eight of 11.
“There’s only one way to play this game,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You can play with urgency and play relaxed and play loose. And that’s where we have to be. It doesn’t feel like we’re doing that. We’ve been pressing on the offensive side of the ball. We know that. You just have to keep going.”
Minnesota starter Simeon Woods Richardson (5-5), who has failed to complete five innings in any of his last four starts, worked out of a bases-loaded, none-out jam without allowing a run in the third. But that 28-pitch effort took its toll an inning later, when he was pulled after allowing a walk and two singles to tie it at 1.
Fraley singled off reliever Louie Varland to load the bases, and Noelvi Marte doubled to give the Reds a 3-1 lead.
Jonathan India followed with a two-run single, and before the inning was over Spencer Steer had a two-run double and Friedl a two-run homer, his second longball in as many nights.
Meanwhile, the Twins had just three hits after the first inning and were held to fewer than three runs for the sixth time in their last 11 games.
“It looks like guys are just getting frustrated with themselves and not looking at the bigger picture, just looking at the results right now,” said Farmer, who pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning in mop-up duty.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Reds: RHP Hunter Greene (elbow soreness) is slated to throw live batting practice on Tuesday. If all goes well, Bell said Greene could still be in line to make two more starts this season.
Twins: SS Carlos Correa (plantar fasciitis) returned to the lineup for the first time since the All-Star break. He started at shortstop and played four innings, doubling in his second plate appearance. He was pulled along with Buxton in the fifth with the Twins trailing 9-1.
UP NEXT
Twins RHP David Festa (2-6, 5.08 ERA) starts Sunday’s series finale against RHP Rhett Lowder (1-1, 0.59).
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A previous version of this story corrected Martinez’s record.
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