 cruised through the Twins' lineup in his second straight solid outing. After striking out 11 against Atlanta in his most recent start, Mahle gave up one run in 6 1/3 innings, allowing four hits and two walks while striking out seven.Peraza had eight hits during the weekend series as the Reds took two of three from the Twins. Cincinnati won for the fourth time in seven games after starting the season 3-18. Meanwhile, Minnesota lost for the ninth time in 10 games.Twins starter Jose Berrios (2-3) struggled with his command and the Reds made him pay. The 23-year-old right-hander walked three and allowed five hits in three innings, his shortest start of the season. He also didn't strike out a batter for the first time in 15 starts. Of his 60 pitches on the day, just 32 were strikes.Two-out RBI doubles by Eugenio Suarez in the first and Jesse Winker in the second put the Reds up 2-0. The first three batters reached base in the third as Cincinnati tacked on two more runs against Berrios before adding three more against reliever Taylor Rogers in the fourth to make it 7-0.The Twins got on the board in the sixth when Joe Mauer's single drove in Jason Castro, who had led off the inning with a double. But Duvall got that run back with a solo shot in the seventh off reliever Tyler Duffey.Castro's RBI double in the ninth capped the scoring.TRAINER'S ROOMTwins: 3B Miguel Sano (hamstring) was out of the starting lineup for the second straight day. Twins manager Paul Molitor said he was available to pinch hit if needed. Sano's hamstring flared up Friday night, when the Twins and Reds played a four-hour game with temperatures that dipped into the 40s.UP NEXTReds: LHP Brandon Finnegan (0-2, 8.03) will face the Brewers in Cincinnati on Monday in the opener of a three-game series.Twins: RHP Lance Lynn (0-2, 7.71) is still in search of his first AL victory. He'll face the Blue Jays on Monday as the Twins wrap up their homestand with three games against Toronto.)
After ending skid, Twins host Reds in rubber game 4h ago• 2 min read The eight-game losing streak is over and now the Minnesota Twins can start moving forward.After ending the skid Saturday, the Twins will host the Cincinnati Reds in the rubber match of a three-game series at Target Field.Despite the good news of getting a clean 3-1 victory, Minnesota will be forced to do it without Byron Buxton after an MRI revealed a hairline fracture of the center fielder's left big toe.Buxton went to the disabled list April 18 because of migraines. The migraines subsided enough that he began a minor league rehab assignment April 22 but fouled a ball off his foot in the first game and has been sidelined since.He had fluid removed from the toe earlier in the week, but the pain remained, and an MRI exam was performed Saturday, revealing the fracture."It's frustrating," Buxton said before Minnesota's first win since beating the Cleveland Indians on April 18 in Puerto Rico. "You're just trying to go down there and get at-bats and get back up here to help us out. But I'm staying in good spirits. Just happy to be back up here and be around them and create some good energy." There's no timetable yet for Buxton's return, but manager Paul Molitor said he's hitting off a tee and will have his workload increased as the pain subsides."If you're talking a significant fracture, you're probably talking four to six weeks, but I don't think that's going to be the case here," Molitor said. "We're hopeful it somehow becomes tolerable in a more reasonable time frame. Next five days should give us an indication of progress." After the bad news about Buxton, the Twins will seek consecutive victories for the first time since winning three straight from April 10-12 and will start ace right-hander Jose Berrios (2-2, 2.84 ERA).Berrios had been off to a phenomenal start before the Yankees tagged him for five runs Tuesday. He had recorded only one walk this season before the Yankees drew a pair off him. They also hit two home runs as Berrios failed to get through the fifth inning for only the second time this season."The two-seam pitches I threw, both sides on the corners, they weren't swinging at those," Berrios said through a translator. "They were very careful at what they were swinging at, very selective. They just had a game plan, and they executed." Berrios has never faced Cincinnati.Tyler Mahle will start for the Reds. His last outing was his best of the season and, of his short major league career. He no-hit the Braves through six innings, walking two batters, but took a no-decision as the Reds won, 9-7, in 12 innings."My fastball was working really well. My slider was better than it has been," Mahle said. "I felt great and was able to execute pitches for six innings." Mahle, considered the Reds' fourth-best prospect prior to the season, is 1-3 with a 5.00 ERA through five starts.If he keeps doing what he's doing, he's going to be a good one," second baseman Scooter Gennett said.The Reds will need a better showing from their offense if they hope to win their first series of the season. After scoring a season-high 15 runs in the opener Friday, Cincinnati went 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position Saturday while Joey Votto has his steak of games with a home run snapped at four.
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