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Hamilton, Reds hold off Twins

Jun 30, 2015 - 5:42 AM Cincinnati, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - Billy Hamilton was the catalyst atop Cincinnati's lineup, and the Reds' bullpen held off the Minnesota Twins in taking the opener of a three-game series 11-7 on Monday.

Hamilton went 2-for-4 with two walks, three runs scored and four steals -- upping his total to 40 in the team's 75th game.

"He was able to make things happen," Reds manager Bryan Price said of Hamilton. "I was happy the way he went about things."

The speedster's efforts helped the Reds jump out to a 9-1 lead, but the Twins cut into the deficit when they pushed across six runs -- three on a Brian Dozier homer -- against Mike Leake in the fourth inning.

Leake did not return in the fifth, and Nate Adcock (1-1) threw two scoreless innings of relief to earn a bounce-back win after the club was swept by the Mets over the weekend.

Tucker Barnhart posted a career-high four hits with two RBI, and Eugenio Suarez went 3-for-5 with three RBI for the Reds, who went an impressive 8- for-19 with runners in scoring position.

Mike Pelfrey (5-5) did not make it out of the third inning in surrendering eight runs for the second time in four outings.

"I got my butt kicked," Pelfrey said bluntly.

He gave up three runs in the first inning after putting the first three hitters on base to load the bases. Todd Frazier got the scoring started with his 54th RBI, Jay Bruce added a sacrifice fly and Barnhart slapped a base hit to left to knock in another run.

A Kurt Suzuki double-play ball plated Trevor Plouffe in the away second, and Hamilton went to work in the bottom half. After earning a one-out walk, Hamilton stole second, took third and scored on Ivan DeJesus' chopper over a drawn-in infield.

The Reds seemingly put the game away with five runs in their next at-bat, with Suarez and Joey Votto each knocking in a pair and Barnhart hitting another RBI single the other way.

A six-run fourth provided some drama, however. Plouffe knocked in Torii Hunter and scored on an Eduardo Escobar double, Danny Santana singled in another run, and Dozier launched a three-run blast into the left-field seats.

But Minnesota did not record a hit against the combination of Adcock, Manny Parra and Aroldis Chapman, and insurance runs via Suarez's perfectly-placed safety squeeze in the sixth and Bruce's RBI double in the seventh sealed the win.

Game Notes

Leake was charged with seven runs on nine hits ... Pelfrey, who gave up eight runs against the Rangers on June 13, allowed nine hits and three walks ... Every Reds position player had at least one of the club's 17 hits ... The Twins fell to 1-3 on their 10-game road trip ... These interleague teams are meeting for the first time since 2012.