The Twins have so rarely had Byron Buxton, Carlos Correa and Royce Lewis on the field at the same time this season, the trio of stars each forced off the field for long periods of time because of injuries. Saturday marked just the 18th time all year the group shared the field.

That experience was cut short, as well.

The Twins were so far out of Saturday night’s game that Buxton and Correa, who both recently returned from the injured list, were lifted after four innings. A couple innings later, Lewis was out of the game, as well, as the Twins stumbled to a 11-1 loss to the Reds at Target Field.

Just like Friday night, it was one big inning that did the Twins in on Saturday.

“Once you give up five, six, seven runs, the game starts to get a little out of hand at that point, as we know,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We’ve got to find a way to stay in the game. We’ve got to find a way to score to also stay in the game. It works on both sides.”

This time around, it was the fourth inning, a nine-run bloodbath that came after starter Simeon Woods Richardson had successfully pitched around a bases-loaded, no-out situation an inning earlier.

A fired-up Woods Richardson let out a show of emotion after getting out of the jam. He had little time to rest and catch his breath, though, before getting back out on the mound as Reds starter Nick Martinez, who gave up just one run on three hits in six innings, needed just seven pitches to get through the bottom of the third.

A walk on a pitch clock violation began the fourth inning — Woods Richardson said he was having problems hearing the pitch on his PitchCom device — and then he gave up a pair of hits, spelling the end of his night. At the time he left the game, the Twins (78-70) and Reds (73-77) were tied.

But the Twins’ bullpen has had a difficult time stranding inherited runners throughout the season and Saturday featured more of that. All three of those runs scored when Louie Varland took over. Varland was hit hard, surrendering five hits and walking one batter in the fourth inning.

“Just some bad pitching,” Varland said. “I didn’t live up to the challenge and opportunity.”

In addition to the three inherited runners who scored, Varland gave up six runs of his own, putting the game entirely out of reach. It was the second of Varland’s three outings since returning to the majors earlier this month that he’s been hit hard, giving up at least six runs.

“I don’t want to let this outing deter him,” Baldelli said. “It’s not going to deter me in any way. But we’ve got to get him right. We’ve got to get him where we need him.”

The Twins wound up using five players on the mound in the loss — Woods Richardson, Varland, Scott Blewett, Caleb Thielbar and infielder Kyle Farmer — and Farmer was the only one who did not allow a run.

Farmer acknowledged his former teammates as he walked off the mound and then tipped his hat to the crowd, a moment of levity within yet another disappointing loss for the Twins, who dropped their second straight game to the under .500 Reds.

Baldelli described his team, which is currently in position to win the third wild card berth has a 2 1/2 game lead over the Detroit Tigers, the nearest team chasing it in the standings, as playing tight and preached the need for the group to find itself.

“Right now we’re playing to give it up, rather than like last year, when we went to Cleveland last year around this time. We took it from them,” Farmer said. “It was just a different mindset. We have to get back towards that mindset of taking it rather than giving it up.”

But how do they do that?

“You’ve got to come back tomorrow and win a game,” Farmer said.