Reds redeem rough 'D' with clutch hits in comeback win

CINCINNATI -- It was a Tuesday night where the Reds had no choice but to have short memories about their defense so they could make something happen offensively.

There were a couple of sloppy plays and a couple that were pure misfortune. But Cincinnati was able to battle back for a 6-5 victory over Minnesota and keep its full-fledged surge of momentum going. All six runs came with two outs as the club has won eight of its past 10 games.

“That’s why baseball is so fun. Things switch fast," right fielder Jake Fraley said. "That’s why you have to stay in every play and you’re never out ‘til you’re out.”

Reds starter Andrew Abbott was pitching in the sixth inning when a two-out throwing error by third baseman Christian Encarnacion-Strand on Ty France's routine grounder opened the door for the Twins to score four unearned runs.

“I credit our defense a lot. I’m going to sit here and credit them because they’ve done a lot for me in every game up to this point," Abbott said. "We all have our days. Those guys are going to put in the work tomorrow and come back ready to go.”

Abbott gave up two more singles after the error before Harrison Bader lifted a three-run opposite-field homer to right field. Fraley nearly made a leaping catch, but his glove instead knocked the ball over the fence for a 5-4 Twins lead.

“Sometimes you make plays. Sometimes you don’t," Fraley said. "He hit it well. I didn’t think it was going to go too far. And then [I] switched my hips and realized, ‘OK, I’m probably going to have to jump up over the wall here to get to it,’ because it just kept carrying. It just didn’t stick in the glove.”

The Reds immediately answered in the bottom of the sixth. After wiping his mind of the earlier play at the wall, Fraley pulled a two-out single to right-center field.

“I can’t do anything about that play. Honestly, it wasn’t even in my head," he said. "The play was over. I tried my best to make it. It was a homer.”

Another single grounded through the right side came from Matt McLain. TJ Friedl followed with the go-ahead two-run double to right-center field that got by diving right fielder Matt Wallner.

Friedl, who could get All-Star consideration, has reached base 117 times out of the leadoff spot this season -- second in the Majors only to Shohei Ohtani. In the third inning, Friedl just missed a spectacular leaping catch over the center-field fence when Byron Buxton homered.

“I think he’s just a really good player," manager Terry Francona said. "He’s into the game the whole game, and I’m glad he’s on our side.”

The rally took Abbott off the hook for what would have been an undeserved loss. He allowed five runs -- one earned -- over 5 2/3 innings with eight hits, no walks and five strikeouts in a no-decision.

“We feel as a team that we’re getting close to where we should have been at the very start," Abbott said. "We’re starting to play better. Our at-bats are getting longer, more aggressive. We’re scoring early on these teams. Pitching has stepped up, bullpen and starters. I feel like we are turning the corner, but we can also improve in some areas still. We’re going the right way.”

Earlier, Will Benson overcame dropping a second-inning two-out fly ball at the warning track. In the fourth inning, he hit a two-run double to left-center field. The Twins should have been out of the frame when Spencer Steer struck out, but he reached on catcher Ryan Jeffers' passed ball. That allowed Fraley to bat and get a two-run single to right field.

“It was like when they say the same things that make you laugh make you cry. We get four after [the Twins] think they get the third out, and they do the same exact thing to us," Francona said. “We made some mistakes, but we did some really good things.”

With its record at 38-35, Cincinnati tied a season best at three games over .500, which last happened when it was 18-15 on May 2.

On Sunday at Detroit, the Reds overcame a deficit for their first win of the season when trailing after seven innings. Once again, they had to dig deep to take a series opener from the Twins.

“All of us are saying it’s contagious," Fraley said. "Everybody’s on the top step and cheering each other on and into every single pitch. For us just to continue to do that for each other, it allows us to be able to get into those big moments and string together hits.”