Major League Baseball
Minnesota 9, Cincinnati 2
When: 1:05 PM ET, Sunday, September 15, 2024
Where: Target Field, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Temperature: 81°
Umpires: Home - Ryan Additon, 1B - Emil Jimenez, 2B - Gabe Morales, 3B - Chris Guccione
Attendance: 22545

Rookie Brooks Lee went 2-for-4 with a triple and a career-high five RBIs, and the Minnesota Twins pulled away for a 9-2 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.

Carlos Santana finished 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and three runs for Minnesota (79-70), which avoided a three-game sweep. Ryan Jeffers went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Spencer Steer hit an RBI triple for Cincinnati (73-78). Ty France hit a sacrifice fly to account for the Reds' other run.

Twins right-hander Cole Sands (8-1) pitched two innings of scoreless relief. He was one of three relievers to follow David Festa, who gave up two runs in 3 2/3 innings.

Reds right-hander Rhett Lowder (1-2) gave up three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.

The Reds started the scoring with two runs in the top of the fourth. Steer hit his RBI triple to center field, and France followed two batters later with a sacrifice fly to center to score Steer.

The Twins cut the deficit to 2-1 in the bottom of the fourth. Willi Castro singled to left to drive in Santana.

A three-run sixth gave the Twins a 4-2 lead. They scored all three runs with two outs.

Jeffers evened the score with a double to left. In the next at-bat, Lee stepped to the plate with runners on second and third, and he delivered a two-run single to make it 4-2.

The Twins put the game away with five runs in the seventh to increase their lead to 9-2.

Santana started the big inning with a two-run shot to left. It was his 22nd homer.

The Twins' next three batters reached safely as Trevor Larnach doubled, Castro was hit by a pitch and Jeffers singled to center. That loaded the bases with two outs for Lee, who came through again with a bases-clearing triple to right to make it 9-2.

Twins reliever Jorge Alcala pitched a pair of scoreless innings to close out the game.

--Field Level Media

Top Game Performances
Starting Pitchers
Cincinnati   Minnesota
Rhett Lowder Player David Festa
Loss W/L No Decision
5.1 IP 3.2
5 Strikeouts 4
6 Hits 3
5.06 ERA 4.91
Hitting
Cincinnati   Minnesota
Tyler Stephenson Player Carlos Santana
2 Hits 3
0 RBI 2
0 HR 1
2 TB 7
.667 Avg .750
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Hits HR TB Avg LOB K RBI BB SB Errors
Cincinnati 7 0 9 .226 17 11 2 4 2 0
Minnesota 12 1 20 .343 11 7 9 2 0 0