Kody Clemens rewarded with homer after trusting his process

CINCINNATI – Kody Clemens entered Thursday with four hits in his previous 41 at-bats (.098 batting average), but teammates kept encouraging him not change anything about his approach.

He was still hitting the ball hard. He had more walks (six) than strikeouts (five). They showed him his “expected” stats, which are generated from his exit velocities and quality of contact, that said he was hitting as well as anyone on the team.

In his first at-bat Thursday — his fourth start since June 8 because the Twins faced a line of lefty starting pitchers — he pulled an inside cutter down the right-field line for a go-ahead, two-run homer against Cincinnati Reds righthander Nick Martinez.

“Kody’s swing was huge,” Carlos Correa said after the Twins’ 12-5 win at Great American Ball Park. “To put us ahead like that and just get the monkey off your back the way he did, it was huge for the team and a big boost. I think he got the bats going.”

Clemens has shown a knack for stepping up in big moments. He has seven homers since he joined the Twins and four have either tied the game or put the Twins ahead.

“‘The Missile’ is on it,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He hammered that ball. He did a great job of keeping the ball fair and not just spinning on it and hooking it. It wasn’t fair by much and it stayed really true.”

The sporadic playing time because of pitcher matchups didn’t affect Clemens. He’s been a bench guy for most of his big-league career, so he knows how to handle it. And the advice from his teammates kept him relaxed despite seeing no results from strong swings.

“I feel like I’ve hit the ball well, just right at people,” Clemens said. “It’s very frustrating, but what are you going to do? I’m hitting .210 and it doesn’t feel that way.”

Bailey Ober had trouble locating his changeup during his start Wednesday, and Chris Paddack felt like he didn’t have command of curveball or slider Thursday.

The biggest reason: The mound at Great American Ball Park.

“Pitchers talk a lot about how the mound is flatter here,” catcher Ryan Jeffers said. “It’s uncomfortable for them sometimes to locate the ball as well as they want to just because it’s a different feel, because it’s flat.”

Twins pitchers knew GABP’s reputation, so it was something they emphasized in their pregame meetings and bullpen sessions.

“I knew talking to some of our guys that it is a lower-slope mound,” Paddack said. “Probably the lowest in the league. It’s like we’re throwing a flat ground. I had to make a lot of adjustments with my eyes.”

Twins relievers, who didn’t have multiple innings to adjust to the mound, walked six batters in 8⅓ innings in Cincinnati.

Baldelli walked into the batting cage Wednesday looking to speak with Jeffers, who was gauging whether he could swing with his bruised right hand.

When Baldelli entered the cage, Correa shouted toward him, “Are you going to take a couple of swings or what?”

Baldelli, who said he hasn’t taken a competitive swing since he retired in 2010, reluctantly agreed to take 10 swings off a tee, borrowing Clemens’ bat.

“I just wanted to see his swing,” Correa said. “He’s still got it, man. I think he can still hit in a group with us.”

Correa joked he wanted Baldelli to progress to the pitching machine for 98-mph sinkers, “so he remembers the good ol’ days.”

Baldelli, 43, said one day back in the batting cage was more than enough.

“I’m not building up toward anything,” Baldelli said. “I peaked already and I’m falling.”

There were two new umpires for the final two games of the Twins-Reds series.

Umpire Tony Randazzo entered Major League Baseball’s concussion protocol after he took a foul ball to the mask Tuesday and left in the third inning, according to an umpire supervisor, and crew chief Dan Bellino tore his hamstring working as the first-base ump.

Bellino finished the game — it was already a three-man crew after Randazzo exited — but David Rackley replaced him as crew chief for the final two games. Jonathan Parra filled in for Randazzo.

* Brooks Lee extended his hitting streak to 18 games Thursday, the longest active streak in the majors, with a sixth-inning double. It’s the longest single-season streak by a Twins batter since Brian Dozier’s 24-game hitting streak in 2016.