Red Alert: Cincinnati Bounced by Buxton and the Bats

The Cincinnati Reds ran into a Minnesota maelstrom Thursday afternoon, dropping a 12-5 decision to the Twins in a series finale that turned into a home run derby for the visitors. Byron Buxton put the Boom in “Boomstick,” launching two more homers—including the second half of back-to-back blasts with Kody Clemens—to power Minnesota to its first win in a week.

Ryan Jeffers also joined the slugfest with a two-run shot and a two-run double, racking up four RBIs on the day. The Twins racked up 17 hits, including multi-hit efforts from Carlos Correa, Trevor Larnach, and Buxton, who now has 14 career multi-homer games and 12 leadoff jacks to his name.

The Reds showed some offensive punch of their own—TJ Friedl went 3-for-4 with two runs scored, Gavin Lux crushed a two-run bomb, and both Tyler Stephenson and Spencer Steer notched RBI doubles—but starting pitcher Nick Martinez couldn’t keep the ball in the yard, giving up three home runs in just 2.2 innings of work.

Cincinnati now turns the page and hits the road for a critical divisional set in St. Louis. Brady Singer gets the ball Friday as the Reds aim to tune up their pitching and stay in the playoff hunt.