With stars back in lineup, Twins blown out by Reds for eighth loss in 11 games

Though the Twins welcomed back Carlos Correa in just the 18th game they have had Correa, Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis in the same lineup this year, Saturday ended with position player Kyle Farmer on the mound.

Correa and Buxton, who returned from the injured list on back-to-back days, were pulled before the fifth inning to preserve their bodies. Not even they could save the Twins during an 11-1 blowout loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Target Field. Farmer was the only Twins pitcher who didn’t give up a run.

Simeon Woods Richardson and Louie Varland combined to give up seven hits and two walks during a disastrous nine-run fourth inning. Blowup innings have been a frequent issue for the Twins over the past month, and they have dropped eight of their last 11 games.

The Twins hold a 2½-game lead over Detroit for the final wild card spot, a Tigers team that was a seller at the trade deadline. They slid 3½ games behind Kansas City for the second wild card and they are 6½ games back from Cleveland in the American League Central.

“We’ve been playing tight,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We see what playing tight looks like. We don’t need to play tight anymore. That’s what happens when I think you let it get to you a little bit.”

Saturday amounted to essentially a rehab game for Correa and Buxton. They were done after two at-bats, collecting two of the three hits righthander Nick Martinez permitted in six innings. Buxton drove in a run when he beat out an infield single in the first inning, and Correa hit a double in the fourth.

When Farmer was asked what advice he gives to teammates, he said: “Don’t play to give it up. Play to take it. Right now, we’re playing to give it up rather than when we went to Cleveland last year around this time, we took it from them. It was just a different mindset.”

Varland, a pitcher the Twins need to instantly transform from a starter into a high-leverage reliever, owns an 8.67 ERA through 42 major league innings this season. Pitching with the score tied and two runners on base in the fourth inning, he surrendered three consecutive hits that included a ground-rule, two-run double to Noelvi Marte and a two-run single to Jonathan India.

That wasn’t even the worst of it. Spencer Steer hit a two-out, two-run double against Varland, and TJ Friedl followed with a two-run homer. Friedl had four hits in the first six innings without a catcher intentionally tipping pitches.

“Just some bad pitching,” Varland said. “It’s a bad circumstance. I didn’t live up to the challenge and opportunity.”

It was a whiplash of emotions for Woods Richardson, who pitched out of a bases-loaded, no outs jam in the third inning. He completed his Houdini act by striking out Elly De La Cruz, tagging out a runner who attempted to score on a wild pitch and then striking out Tyler Stephenson.

Woods Richardson let out a yell as he bounced off the mound. Catcher Christian Vázquez patted him on the head before he entered the dugout.

There was no second act.

The first three batters reached base against Woods Richardson in the fourth inning, including a leadoff walk on a pitch clock violation. Vázquez tried to call for a mound visit when he saw the clock hitting zero, but home-plate umpire Chris Guccione ruled it came too late.

“I couldn’t receive the [PitchCom] signal for at least four to five seconds,” Woods Richardson said. “Vazqy puts his hands up at one [second]. I step off like, ‘What’s going on? I can’t hear nothing.’ We get penalized for it. It is what it is. Are we going to sit and complain about it? No.”

Woods Richardson, who gave up five hits and three walks against the 15 batters he faced, hasn’t completed five innings in any of his past four starts. He exited when Ty France hit a tying RBI infield single on a slow roller to third base that Lewis bobbled. The Reds ended up sending 12 batters to the plate in the fourth inning.

The Twins, outscored 19-5 in their last two games, finish their three-game series against the Reds on Sunday before beginning a seven-game road trip through Cleveland and Boston.

“You’re going to have bad months of baseball,” Baldelli said. “I wish we weren’t having it right now, but you’re going to have that. It doesn’t mean you can’t steer onto another path for the last couple weeks of the season and play good baseball.”