Twins rally goes for naught in 10-7 loss to Cincinnati

Like any morning after a late night, the Twins weren't at their best Tuesday.

They displayed textbook symptoms that every student who pulls an all-nighter or kid who resists being the first to conk out at a sleepover knows: Brain fog, mental mistakes, random bursts of frenetic energy.

But Monday's more-than-five-hour, 12-inning victory caught up to the Twins in the end, dooming them to a 10-7 loss to Cincinnati. Tyler Naquin's three-run homer in the top of the ninth broke a tie before a Target Field crowd of 19,187.

Not even 12 hours passed between the end of Monday's game and Tuesday's first pitch at noon, and the Twins showed it.

The Reds, though, seemed immune.

The final two innings provided several wild swings, first with Cincinnati — already leading 4-2 — stacking up three more runs in the top of the eighth inning off reliever Alexander Colome. The Twins answered with five runs at the bottom of that frame, making their way through the entire lineup and three Cincinnati relievers to tie the score at 7.

But Hansel Robles couldn't shut down the Reds in the ninth, giving up a line-drive double to Nick Castellanos, a hit-by-pitch and Naquin's homer, his fourth hit of the game.

Given that most of the Twins' offense came after Cincinnati starter Wade Miley pitched seven strong innings, maybe he had a metaphorical poisoned apple or spinning wheel. He gave up only five hits and two runs — on Ryan Jeffers' two-run homer in the fifth — and struck out six.

"I'll give credit to Miley. He's been throwing the ball very well. He was just very sharp. He's a veteran pitcher that can do a lot of tricky things," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. "He's got a unique look from the left side. There's some little funk and deception. … He didn't give us a chance to get into much of a rhythm."

When Miley finally released the Twins from his spell, they took advantage in the eighth. They chased off Art Warren after a walk and Max Kepler's two-run homer. Lucas Sims then immediately allowed Trevor Larnach's 112-mph blast 434 feet to the right field plaza. A Jeffers base hit and Miguel Sano's double off the left field wall put two in scoring position against Tejay Antone, who conceded Alex Kirilloff's two-run double off the center-field wall.

BOXSCORE: Cincinnati 10, Twins 7

Neither Twins starter Bailey Ober nor the bullpen had that same magic at hand. Ober saw six hits sail past him and four runs cross in front of him, including Tucker Barnhart's solo homer in the third inning. Then Ober put the first four batters on base in the fifth and allowed Jesse Winker to drive in two more runs with a double.

Tyler Duffey relieved Ober with one out in the fifth and loaded the bases again with a walk, but managed to let only one inherited runner score.

The Twins employed seven pitchers in the Monday marathon and six more Tuesday. Three of those relievers pitched in both games: Caleb Thielbar, Luke Farrell and Colome. Robles pitched for the fourth time in five days.

"We have ridden our bullpen hard," Baldelli said, adding that many pitchers should have been off Tuesday. "… We had to just hand them the ball and let them go to work. Some of their stuff was down because of it."

The Twins ending a five-game win streak wasn't all on the pitching staff or lackadaisical offense. Players made key fielding errors as well, including two by Sano at third base.

"We have to play the game fundamentally sound. We didn't do that as a whole," Baldelli said. "… If we make the plays, we win. We didn't make the plays."

At least the Twins escaped Target Field in about two fewer hours than Monday's game took. And with no game Wednesday, there's ample time to catch up on lost sleep.

"I'm sure they're looking for starters like me to go five, six, seven [innings] to give them a little extra break, especially after a day like [Monday]," Ober said of the bullpen fatigue. "… It's a long game. We burned, we used a lot of guys.

"[The] off day is going to be important."