Using relievers becomes tricky enough in interleague play when the potential need for a pinch hitter arises. A short outing by the starting pitcher doesn't make things any easier.
For the second time in four games, the Minnesota Twins' bullpen was forced into action plenty early in a National League park. Twins starter Mike Pelfrey lasted two-plus innings Monday -- his shortest start of the year -- and was taken out of Minnesota's 11-7 loss before recording an out in the third inning.
Pelfrey's short outing came just three days after right-hander Trevor May didn't make it through the first inning in Milwaukee. The Twins needed four relievers in that game, a 10-4 loss to the Brewers in which Minnesota trailed 10-1 after two innings.
"We just couldn't stick with him much longer than we did," Twins manager Paul Molitor said of Pelfrey. "I was hoping to get more. We already had the short start this week."
Minnesota needed four relievers to get through the final seven innings of Monday's loss, and it wasn't always pretty for the Twins' bullpen. Right-hander Alex Meyer, who made his major-league debut Friday when he replaced May in the first inning, suffered his second rough outing in as many appearances. Meyer allowed two inherited runners to score and surrendered another run of his own thanks to a pair of walks in one inning of work.
Meyer's spot in the lineup came up in the Twins' six-run fourth inning, so Minnesota pinch-hit Kennys Vargas for Meyer. Vargas popped out in his only at-bat, but it meant a new arm had to pitch the bottom of the fourth. Right-hander J.R. Graham came in to toss two scoreless innings in relief of Meyer. It was Graham's second two-inning outing in the last four days, as he also worked a multi-inning stint in that Friday debacle.
Graham kept the game close after Minnesota got to within two runs. His outing was followed by two innings from right-hander Ryan Pressly, who gave up two runs to turn a 9-7 deficit into an 11-7 Reds lead.
With the game still at 11-7 in the eighth inning, the Twins turned to left-hander Aaron Thompson to face the bottom of the Reds' lineup. Thompson gave up a leadoff single to Cincinnati catcher Tucker Barnhart but escaped a scoreless eighth inning.
Minnesota wasn't the only team with a taxed bullpen. The Reds came into Monday's game after having to complete a game Sunday that was postponed Saturday, as well as Sunday's regularly scheduled game against the Mets. Cincinnati used a total of eight relievers in those two games, and starter Mike Leake was chased after just four innings Monday against the Twins. Yet three Reds relievers combined to hold Minnesota without a hit through the final five innings.
"We kind of sputtered from there offensively, and the bullpen gave up a couple," Molitor said. "Just kind of a long game. Gave up a lot of hits. It wasn't very fun to watch."
When the dust settled on the Twins' four-run loss, Minnesota's four relievers allowed three runs on eight hits in six innings. Now, the Twins have to hope Tuesday's starter, Phil Hughes, gets deeper into the game than May and Pelfrey did the last few days. Minnesota's rotation as a whole had done a much better job this season of preserving the bullpen, and Hughes has gone eight innings in each of his last two starts.
The Twins and their relievers would certainly take another eight-inning effort from Hughes on Tuesday.
FOX Sports North's Jamie Hersch contributed to this report.
Follow Tyler Mason on Twitter
