The Boston Red Sox lose the first game of their series with the Minnesota Twins 8-6.
Boston held the lead for the majority of this game, but after Payton Tolle’s exit following the sixth inning, Justin Slaten allowed consecutive two-run home runs to give Minnesota its first lead of the night.
The Red Sox jumped out to an early lead scoring four runs in the first inning off Minnesota starter Connor Prielipp. The most significant at-bats in the inning were a Wilyer Abreu double and Willson Contreras triple, which became his 1,000th hit in his MLB career. Abreu, Contreras, Andrew Monasterio and Marcelo Mayer all recorded RBI’s in the inning
But in the second inning, Tolle faced trouble. After allowing an RBI double to Ryan Kreidler which gave the Twins their first run, Tolle loaded the bases with no outs. Tolle allowed two additional runs, but retired 3-of-5 batters to keep Boston’s lead at 4-3.
Boston added to its lead in the fourth inning, taking advantage of defensive mistakes by Minnesota.With runners on the corners and one out, Caleb Durbin dropped a bunt which brought in a run, but an error from Prielipp put two runners in scoring position. In the next at-bat, Jarren Duran brought home another run on a fielder’s choice play to give the Red Sox a 6-3 lead.
Meanwhile on the defensive side, Tolle retired 11 consecutive batters and ended his night after a 1-2-3 sixth inning. He finished his outing throwing 85 pitches.
Boston turned to Slaten in the seventh inning to keep Boston’s three-run lead, but it resulted in four runs which gave Minnesota its first and only lead of the night. First, Byron Buxton smashed a two-run home run to center field, and after Slaten walked his next batter, Austin Martin sent another two-run homer into the monster seats killing any momentum for Boston.
Slaten’s outing didn’t last an entire inning, as Greg Weissert had to finish out the seventh and eighth inning for the Red Sox.
The Twins added another run to their lead in the ninth inning, as defensive miscues in the infield gave Minnesota another opportunity with the bases loaded and no outs. Fortunately, Tyron Guerrero, making his first appearance in the MLB this season, limited the damage to just one run.
However, the Red Sox went cold at the plate in the final three innings of play. They failed to record a hit, and their lone baserunners came off errors and walks.
Boston will continue its series against the Twins tomorrow at 4:10 p.m.
WHO: Red Sox (22-27) vs Twins (23-27)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park, Boston
SERIES TO DATE: (0-0), (1-2)
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Payton Tolle (2-2, 2.05 ERA) vs. LHP Connor Prielipp (1-2, 2.22 ERA)
TV/RADIO: NESN, MLB Network, WEEI-FM 93.7
Jarren Duran (L) LF
Ceddanne Rafaela (R) CF
Wilyer Abreu (L) RF
Willson Contreras (R) 1B
Andruw Monasterio (R) DH
Nick Sogard (S) SS
Marcelo Mayer (L) 2B
Carlos Narváez (R) C
Caleb Durbin (R) 3B
Byron Buxton (R) DH
Brooks Lee (S) 3B
Austin Martin (R) CF
Josh Bell (S) 1B
Gabriel Gonzalez (R) LF
Ryan Kreidler (R) SS
Kody Clemens (L) RF
Luke Keaschall (R) 2B
Alex Jackson (R) C
The Boston Red Sox return to Fenway Park with a matchup against the Minnesota Twins.
Trevor Story will undergo surgery for his sports hernia injury. Story will be sidelined for roughly two months, and the Red Sox plan to use Marcelo Mayer as their “more-or-less everyday” shortstop. “Obviously, we have a bunch of guys who can play (shortstop),” said interim manager Chad Tracy. “But we proactively started getting Marcelo some work there this past week. Tentatively, planning on getting him out there Sunday. There’s a little bit more work (the coaches) want to do with him. But I definitely think you’ll see more of him there. Does that mean he’ll play there every single day? Maybe not. But we definitely want to explore that.”
Chad Tracy said that Roman Anthony did see the team’s specialist again as well as another doctor and there’s no change in diagnosis or prognosis going forward. “Nothing new with Roman other than to say he did re-see our specialist and also a second opinion,” Tracy said. “The healing is OK. It’s just gonna be a matter of that motion swinging when he feels like he can do it and we’re gonna wait until (then).”
