Streaking Reds pursue series sweep of skidding Twins

Matt McLain and the surging Cincinnati Reds will look to complete a three-game series sweep when they host the Minnesota Twins in a Thursday matinee.

The Reds won their fourth straight and ninth in 11 games on Wednesday, defeating the Twins 4-2 in a contest that ended in the bottom of the sixth inning due to rain. Cincinnati has won four straight series to move four games over .500 for the first time this season.

The Twins took their sixth consecutive loss.

As the Reds have been rising, so too has the batting average of their second baseman.

McLain was hitting just .175 through June 4. However, in his past 11 games, he has hit .314 (11-for-35), raising his average to .196.

His fielding has been steady all season, including two more special plays on Wednesday. McLain raced over to foul territory and made a catch against the screen in the fourth inning after earlier snaring a line drive.

"That's been kind of the saving grace when he wasn't hitting because he always played defense," Cincinnati manager Terry Francona said. "He always played the game. You don't see him in there throwing helmets and ranting and raving. He just plays."

The tightly knit Reds also have won five straight at home and are looking for their second straight three-game sweep in Cincinnati.

"It's just pulling for the guy in the (batter's) box," said Cincinnati's Nick Lodolo, who threw a six-inning complete game Wednesday night. "We're not sitting there. We're not on iPads or anything like that. Everyone's watching the game. And we're there for the guy in the box, pulling for him."

Francona will hand the ball on Thursday to Nick Martinez (4-7, 3.92 ERA). The right-hander allowed four runs on eight hits over five-plus innings on Friday in Detroit, taking an 11-5 loss against the Tigers.

Martinez is 1-1 with a 5.60 ERA in six career games (five starts) vs. Minnesota.

The Twins will counter with right-hander Chris Paddack (2-6, 4.30), who started on Friday at Houston and was the pitcher of record in a 10-3 setback. Paddack was roughed up for a career-high-tying nine runs (eight earned) on a 12 hits, which also matched a career high, in four innings.

Paddack is 1-1 with a 4.09 ERA in two career starts against Cincinnati.

The Twins are waiting to see if they will have their best hitting option at catcher back in the lineup on Thursday. Ryan Jeffers was held out on Wednesday after sustaining a bruise on his right hand from a foul tip a day earlier.

"I'm hopeful of that," manager Rocco Baldelli said of Jeffers returning to action. "I can't say for sure. I'd be speculating. It's swollen and discolored and all of that. We're just going to get him a whole lot of treatment in the training room, see if we can get the swelling down. That's the main goal. And we'll see how he is (Thursday). We'll treat it day-to-day, though."

Brooks Lee extended his hitting streak to a career-high 17 games with a single on Wednesday for the Twins, who fell to 0-5 on their six-game trip through Houston and Cincinnati.

Minnesota center fielder Byron Buxton, who went deep on the first pitch Wednesday, has homered in each of the first two games of the series. He leads the Twins with 13 home runs.