The Cincinnati Reds lost their 5th straight game last night

The Joe Nuxhall Memorial Honorary Star of the Game

Eugenio Suarez bashed a 2-run homer, added a single, sac-fly, and a walk, and had one of his better offensive performances of the year for the Cincinnati Reds on Monday against the Minnesota Twins. That was good. Quite good. The kind of good that makes you hold out hope that he’s going to eventually go on a complete tear at some point this year the way the good ol’ Geno used to do.

It wasn’t enough and the Reds lost, though. Life is pain, folks. Life is pain.

Honorable Mentions are due to: Jonathan India, who singled thrice (although was TOOTBLAN’d on one) and added a walk from the leadoff spot; Tyler Stephenson, who walked twice, singled, and scored; Aristides Aquino, who socked a solo homer; and Amir Garrett, who came out of the ‘pen to put out a huge fire in the Bottom of the 8th.

Key Plays

• Nelson Cruz got the scoring started with a solo dong, because Nelson Cruz gets scoring started a lot with solo dongs. Said dong came off Tyler Mahle in the Bottom of the 2nd, and the Twins later strung together enough baserunners for an Alex Kiriloff RBI single and Luis Arraez sac fly, leaving the Reds behind 3-0 early.
• The Cincinnati Dinger Apparatus engaged in the Top of the 4th, with the thunderous righty bats in the lineup against Minnesota lefty J.A. Happ doing the biggest damage. After Tyler Stephenson coaxed a leadoff walk, Geno booped a 2-run homer into the LF stands, with Aquino following him immediately with a solo job that leveled the score at 3-3.
• After a handful of scenarios that teetered on reaching ‘game-winning’ status for both sides, this game eventually leaked into extra-innings anyway. The Reds again used the ghostrunner that started on 2B to begin the Top of the 10th to their advantage, as Nick Castellanos immediately singled to score said runner and give the Reds a 4-3 lead. Later, Castellanos moved to 3B on a single by Stephenson and scored on a sac-fly by Geno, a run that gave the Reds a 5-3 lead.
• Sean Doolittle took the mound for the Bottom of the 10th and promptly yielded an RBI double to Luis Arraez. A single and sac-fly later, and the Twins had tied things at 5-5.
• Miguel Sano bashed a 2-run tater off Heath Hembree in the Bottom of the Whatevereth, and the Reds lost 7-5, sinking to their 5th consecutive defeat.

Tony Graphanino

Other Notes

• Twins CF Byron Buxton exited this contest early after being hit on the hand by a Tyler Mahle pitch, and as of the 8th inning on Monday we were still unaware of the status of his x-ray results, unfortunately. Here’s to hoping he’s a-ok, as this game is infinitely better when players of his immense talent are healthy and crushing things.
• Mahle, meanwhile, was slightly less than his best on the evening. He had said HBP alongside 3 BB in just 4 IP, though he did counter it with 8 K. Those things conspired to push his pitch count high very, very early, however, and his evening ended after just 4 IP with 5 H and 3 ER yielded on 93 pitches.
• Tuesday will wrap this short interleague series, and it’ll happen early with a 1:10 PM ET start time. Wade Miley will again toe the rubber for the Reds, while the Twins will roll out Bailey Ober.
• 5 straight losses, and the Reds are back under .500.
• Tunes.