CINCINNATI – Ryan Doumit and Ben Revere each had four hits Friday night, leading the Minnesota Twins to a 5-4 victory that gave the Cincinnati Reds their season-high fourth straight loss.
Doumit hit a solo shot off Homer Bailey (5-5), who angrily left the field after failing to get through the sixth inning. Revere broke an 0-for-15 streak with four singles.
Chris Heisey and Scott Rolen had two-run homers off Twins starter Nick Blackburn (4-4), who lasted only five innings.
Revere, who grew up in neighboring Kentucky and had a lot of friends and family in the stands, also stole two bases, scored a run and had a sacrifice fly off Bill Bray that made it 5-4 in the sixth. It was his second career four-hit game.
Doumit’s four hits also matched his career high.
Minnesota’s bullpen made it stand up. Alex Burnett escaped a bases-loaded, one-out threat in the sixth. Glen Perkins gave up a pair of singles in the ninth, but escaped with a pair of strikeouts for his second save in place of Matt Capps, sidelined since June 15 by a sore shoulder.
The Twins are making their first visit to Great American Ball Park, which opened in 2003. The teams played five straight seasons from 1997 to 2001 but had not faced each other since then.
Minnesota’s biggest concern was whether its starters would get rocked in a ballpark where homers are the norm. There’s been at least one hit in each of the last 60 games, the longest current streak in the majors.
The Twins’ staff has given up a major league-leading 95 homers – 68 by the starters.
Eight pitches into the game, Blackburn gave up a two-run shot to Heisey. Blackburn has allowed at least one first-inning run in eight of his 11 starts.
Doumit’s first homer since May 8 put the Twins up 3-2 in the fourth inning.
Rolen, playing his fourth game since returning from a stint on the disabled list with a bum shoulder, hit his first homer since April 26, putting the Reds back ahead 4-3 in the fourth.
Bailey left after walking the bases loaded on his 106th pitch in the sixth inning, shaking his head in disagreement when manager Dusty Baker came to the mound. Bailey threw his cap on the ground in the dugout, then grabbed a bat from the rack and headed for the walkway to vent his frustration out of sight.
Bray relieved and walked in the tying run, then gave up a sacrifice fly by Revere that made it 5-4.
