Rookie Sal Stewart said it felt like the Cincinnati Reds were treading in quicksand Monday night after their fifth straight loss.

He dragged them out of it Tuesday night by cracking his 13th homer, a two-run shot in the top of the 11th inning that gave the Reds a much-needed 5-3 road victory over the reeling San Diego Padres.

Stewart and Cincinnati will aim to end a tough road trip with a series win on Wednesday afternoon.

That it was Stewart who produced the big hit shouldn’t come as a big surprise. He has a shot at the Rookie of the Year award in the National League, as he is batting .254 with 42 RBIs in addition to his 13 home runs.

“He’s the best, and he knows it,” starting pitcher Chase Burns said of Stewart, 22.

Stewart’s clutch homer was backed up by a 1-2-3 bottom of the 11th from Zach Maxwell, giving him his first major league save.

Reds manager Terry Francona said after the game that starter Nick Lodolo, who pitched on Saturday in St. Louis, volunteered to go to the bullpen and help the beleaguered relievers.

On this night, the bullpen that has struggled for several weeks was just fine, allowing just one run in 5 2/3 innings and working out of numerous jams.

Cincinnati will hope for length from Wednesday’s starter, Brady Singer (2-6, 5.89 ERA). The right-hander last worked on Friday night in St. Louis, where he absorbed a 10-3 defeat after yielding four runs (one earned) on four hits in four innings, with three walks and six strikeouts.

“There are a lot of ups and downs and stuff like that,” Singer said. “I’m getting kicked in the teeth right now, obviously.”

Singer won his only previous start against the Padres — who are 2-8 in their past 10 games — allowing four runs (two earned) over six innings on May 16, 2023, while pitching for Kansas City.

Opposing Singer on Wednesday will be San Diego right-hander Michael King (4-5, 3.41 ERA), who’s coming off a 5-0 loss Friday against the New York Mets. King gave up four runs on six hits in six innings, walking none and fanning four.

In five career games against Cincinnati, two of them starts, King is 2-0 with a 2.87 ERA. He’s dropped his last three starts since throwing seven shutout innings on May 18 in a 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers.

San Diego’s season-long offensive woes showed up again in a big way on Tuesday night. The Padres went 3-for-20 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 runners. They left the bases loaded in the ninth when Manny Machado and Gavin Sheets each struck out to force extra innings.

The Padres also filled the bases in the sixth with one out before Freddy Fermin, who homered in the previous three games, hit into a rally-killing 3-2-3 double play.

“We could have won that one, but we didn’t get the job done,” San Diego manager Craig Stammen said. “We’re obviously pressing in that situation. Everybody wants to be the guy that breaks out.”

The loss dropped the Padres to 18-19 at home this season. They were dominant there last year, going 52-29.

–Field Level Media

The Seattle Mariners have made the best out of some unfortunate situations this week.

They will take the confidence that goes with that into Wednesday night’s game against the host Baltimore Orioles.

Seattle is 11-3 in its last 14 games. The Orioles, in turn, are mired in a four-game losing streak.

The Mariners won the second consecutive contest of the four-game series — 6-5 in 10 innings Tuesday night — despite squandering a ninth-inning lead.

Seattle has won twice against Baltimore with shortstop Colt Emerson sidelined because of an ailing back.

“He seems to be better (Tuesday) than he was (Monday),” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “So that’s a really positive thing, and we’ll just keep monitoring as we go.”

The Mariners have survived for both victories in the series despite some adventurous work from the bullpen.

The Orioles, who’ve cranked out late-inning offense, haven’t been able to totally make up for some of their lineup tweaks.

“We have to get better to win those margins, whatever that is,” Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz said. “It’s looking at how we can get better and make adjustments.”

Catcher Adley Rutschman has been out of Baltimore’s lineup for the first two games of the series because of hamstring tightness.

“We just want to make sure that we stay on top of that,” Albernaz said, not revealing a timetable for Rutschman’s return to action.

Sam Huff has been behind the plate for both games, marking his return to the big leagues for the first time since mid-April. Along with Samuel Basallo, the Orioles are carrying three catchers.

“Having the third catcher is a great safety valve for us,” Albernaz said. “So it’s something that for right now it makes the most sense, but also moving forward it could be or it could not be. So there’s a lot of factors that go into that. But right now, it’s definitely a benefit for us.”

Right-hander George Kirby (5-5, 4.04 ERA) will start for the Mariners on Wednesday, seeking his first victory in nearly a month. In his last four starts, he’s 0-3. He’s coming off a season-low four innings in last Wednesday’s 7-1 loss to the New York Mets. Kirby gave up five runs (four earned) and nine hits.

Matchups against the Orioles generally haven’t gone Kirby’s way, as he’s 2-5 with a 3.26 ERA in eight starts vs. Baltimore. That’s the most losses to any opponent in Kirby’s career.

The Mariners lost bullpen regular Cooper Criswell, who was placed on the 15-day injury list Tuesday because of a shoulder strain. In his place, Nick Davila was called up from Triple-A Tacoma and recorded his first career save Tuesday.

The Orioles’ starting pitcher on Wednesday will be right-hander Brandon Young (4-1, 3.47 ERA), who’ll face Seattle for the first time in his career.

Baltimore has won six consecutive outings with Young on the mound, though he’s 2-0 during that stretch. He picked up the victory Friday at Toronto, where the Blue Jays managed three runs in 6 1/3 innings off Young. The Orioles won 13-3.

In his last three starts, Young has gone 19 2/3 innings, issuing three walks and logging 15 strikeouts.

–Field Level Media

The first game of the Minnesota-Detroit series turned into Home Run Derby on Tuesday night.

The American League Central rivals combined for eight long balls — four by each team — but the host Tigers made better use of their homers in a 10-4 victory in the opener of a three-game series.

The teams will match up again on Wednesday night, with Minnesota looking to cool off a Detroit team that has won six of its last seven games.

Left-hander Framber Valdez (3-4, 4.21 ERA) will start for the Tigers in Game 2 of the series. He posted a win in his most recent start, but it didn’t come easily.

Valdez labored through five innings against Seattle on Friday, throwing 102 pitches in a 7-3 victory. He allowed five hits, two walks and also hit a batter, but the Mariners scored only once against him.

“I wasn’t putting my head down,” Valdez said through an interpreter. “I was trying to go as deep as I could, and it was in my mind, ‘I’m not going to let them score. I am not going to let them score.’ I am grateful for my teammates for scoring the runs and for making plays behind me to save runs.”

Familiarity between Valdez — who spent his career with Houston before signing with Detroit this past offseason — and the former American League West rival Mariners played a role in the long at-bats on Friday.

“He’s played them a lot through his whole career,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s got a lot of history with that lineup, especially at the top. He had to battle and he did.”

Valdez will face Minnesota for the 10th time in his career. He has a 4-2 record and a 3.61 ERA in his previous nine outings.

Valdez endured one of his worst outings of the season against the Twins on April 8. He was pounded for eight runs and 10 hits in five innings.

The Twins, who have lost five of their past six games, have not announced a starter for Wednesday’s game. Minnesota’s staff will look to cool off Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler, who homered twice during a four-hit outburst on Tuesday.

Hinch has played mix-and-match with his roster in recent seasons, utilizing the versatility of players such as Matt Vierling, Zach McKinstry and Colt Keith.

Minnesota manager Derek Shelton is doing the same with his players. He notes that only Byron Buxton, an outstanding center fielder, is locked into a certain spot on the field.

“We have the ability to be more matchup-based,” Shelton told MLB.com. “Very similar to where we were earlier in the year. We had the ability to do that, and there’s a chance that we could definitely see that.

“Now, some of that’s also going to come with performance. You still have to perform to be able to get that. But we could definitely be more matchup-based with the way our roster’s constructed right now.”

Buxton returned to the lineup with a bang on Tuesday. He hit Troy Melton’s first pitch of the contest for his 19th homer of the season.

Buxton had been out of the lineup the previous two games. He sustained a right shoulder contusion while crashing into the wall against Kansas City on Friday.

Buxton remains hopeful the team can make a playoff run.

“We have to push each other day-in and day-out to make sure we get where we want to get to,” Buxton told The Minnesota Star Tribune.

–Field Level Media