Cincinnati, OH – Ryan Doumit finished a triple shy of the cycle on Friday as the Twins defeated the Reds, 5-4, in the opener a three- game set.
Doumit crushed a homer and scored twice, while Ben Revere added four hits and plated the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly in the sixth to break a 4-4 tie.
A Pittsburgh Pirate for his first seven major league seasons, Doumit was no stranger to Great American Ball Park.
"It felt pretty good. I've played in this park a lot and I've played against this team a lot," he said. "The comfortability of getting back to a National League park was just one of those things. It was a nice night at the plate."
Nick Blackburn (4-4) earned the victory despite allowing four runs on five hits and two walks over five frames and Glen Perkins fired a scoreless ninth to nail down his second save of the year. The Twins have now won three of their last five contests.
Homer Bailey (5-5) was charged for five runs -- four earned -- on eight hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings. Chris Heisey and Scott Rolen each stroked two-run homers, but the Reds lost their fourth straight game.
"We had some untimely walks at the wrong time and some untimely strikeouts at the wrong time," said Reds manager Dusty Baker.
Heisey's two-run blast to left in the bottom of the first gave the Reds the early lead, but the Twins battled back in the second as Trevor Plouffe smacked a leadoff single and Doumit followed with a ground-rule double down the left- field line. Brian Dozier then grounded sharply to shortstop, allowing Plouffe to cross home as Minnesota trimmed the deficit in half.
The visitors then tied the game in the third when Revere singled and moved to second on an error by shortstop Zack Cozart. The speedy outfielder then stole third and finally scored on a sac fly by Josh Willingham.
Minnesota jumped in front in the fourth when Doumit lifted a fastball into the right-field seats to make it a 3-2 contest, but the Reds responded with a long ball in the bottom half as Rolen followed Ryan Ludwick's one-out double with a two-run blast to left, restoring the Reds' one-run lead.
In the sixth, Doumit and Jamey Carroll each singled around a Dozier pop out before pinch-hitter Joe Mauer coaxed a walk to load the bases and chase Bailey from the game.
Bill Bray entered for Bailey and walked Denard Span to tie the game before Revere's go-ahead sac fly to right scored Carroll from third to put the Twins back on top, 5-4.
The Reds threatened in the ninth as Scott Rolen singled to start the frame, moved to second on a bunt and found third on a single by Ryan Hanigan.
After a brief meeting at the mound, Perkins settled in and fanned consecutive Reds to end the contest.
Game Notes
Home plate umpire Jerry Layne left the game in the bottom of the fourth inning after a broken bat struck him in the side of his head. He was taken to a nearby hospital for additional testing...Bray was activated from the disabled list earlier on Friday and made his first appearance since April 18...With his run scored in the sixth, Carroll now has 500 runs scored for his career.
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