MLB

Boston Red Sox at Minnesota Twins

· Major League Baseball
Boston Red Sox
38-35, 17-17 Away
Final
9 - 3
Minnesota Twins
36-37, 21-18 Home

Verdugo drives in four runs, Casas homers as Red Sox beat Twins 9-3

Triston Casas hit a two-run homer and Jarren Duran added three doubles for Boston, which has outscored opponents 40-14 during the win streak.

“The line was moving before we started scoring runs the last few days,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora, who notched his 400th career win as Boston's manager. “Now, we're getting the big hit, so hopefully the fun starts.”

Paxton (3-1) gave up three hits and a walk while striking out seven. Over his past four games, the tall left-hander has given up six earned runs in 24 1/3 innings with 32 strikeouts.

“This is great," Paxton said of being able to pitch consistently after a couple injury-riddled seasons. “Being able to go out every five days, six days, whatever it ends up being has been so much fun. Just love being back in the routine. It's what I love to do and just grateful to be back out there.”

Pablo López (3-4) allowed five runs — four earned — in 5 2/3 innings for Minnesota, which has lost four of five but remains two games ahead of Cleveland in the American League Central despite falling under .500 (36-37) for the second time this season.

“We need to put better swings on the ball and find the barrel more than we have,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “And we walked guys on the other side of the ball. It wasn’t a good recipe for a good game or a win or anything along those lines. We’re in a tough stretch right now. This has not been the best baseball we’ve seen from our group. But that’s it.”

Twins catcher Christian Vázquez hit a three-run homer against his former team, his first in 48 games in his first season in Minnesota.

Duran’s second double of the game drove in two runs in the fourth and put Boston ahead 3-0 before Vázquez’s homer off Paxton in the fifth. But after Jovani Moran relieved López with two outs and two on in the sixth, Verdugo lined a triple down the right-field line to score three.

“Just kind of keep the next guy going and just timely hitting, I think that's the big thing,” Verdugo said. “We were getting a lot of hits but getting the runners in is what we're trying to pride ourselves with. Today, we did a good job from top of the order to the bottom of the order, to getting runners on and getting the big hit.”

BOTTOM TO TOP

The bottom of the Red Sox order got most of the damage started.

Casas, catcher Connor Wong and shortstop Pablo Reyes combined to go 5 for 12 with two walks and seven runs scored.

“That was huge,” Cora said. “It was a total team effort. We grinded today against a really good pitcher.”

EAGLE HAS LANDED

The Target Field public address system played an eagle screech every time Minnesota would get a base hit or Paxton would walk a batter. It was Paxton's first start at Target Field since April 2018 when a bald eagle landed on Paxton's shoulder during the National Anthem.

Paxton said he heard the screeching on Monday and didn't mind the reference.

“It's a fun little dig on me,” Paxton said. "Maybe last time I was here, the eagle landed on me, which was quite the experience. So, it was fun.”

TRAINERS ROOM

Red Sox: RHP Tanner Houck (facial fracture) is scheduled to see a doctor on Tuesday, a visit that will help determine more of a timetable for his possible return. ... LHP Joely Rodriguez (left shoulder inflammation) is scheduled to start a rehab assignment with Triple-A Worcester on Tuesday.

Twins: RHP Kenta Maeda (right triceps strain) has finished his rehab assignment with Triple-A St. Paul and Baldelli said it’s possible Maeda could rejoin the rotation at some point this week. Baldelli didn’t have a definitive day for when it might be, but the Twins would go to a temporary six-man rotation.

UP NEXT

RHP Bailey Ober (4-3, 2.65 ERA) is scheduled to start Tuesday for Minnesota, with Boston countering with RHP Kutter Crawford (1-3, 4.20).

How can I watch Boston Red Sox vs. Minnesota Twins?
  • TV Channel: Red Sox at Twins 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
  • Online streaming: Sign up for Fubo.

Matchup Prediction

Twins: 51.5%
Red Sox: 48.5%
*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

9th Inning Solano grounded into fielder's choice to third, Vázquez out at second.
9th Inning Vázquez walked.
9th Inning Farmer to second on fielder's indifference.
9th Inning Gallo struck out looking.
9th Inning Farmer walked.
9th Inning Castro struck out swinging.

Statistics

https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/bos.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originBOS https://a.espncdn.com/combiner/i?img=/i/teamlogos/mlb/500/min.png&h=100&scale=crop&w=100&location=originMIN
1 Games Played 1
1 Team Games Played 1
1 Hit By Pitch 1
13 Ground Balls 11
9 Strikeouts 11
9 Runs Batted In 3
0 Sacrifice Hit 0
10 Hits 7
0 Stolen Bases 0
7 Walks 3
0 Catcher Interference 0
9 Runs 3
1 Ground Into Double Play 1
0 Sacrifice Flies 0
36 At Bats 33
1 Home Runs 1
0 Grand Slam Home Runs 0
17 Runners Left On Base 16
1 Triples 0
1 Game Winning RBIs 0
0 Intentional Walks 0
4 Doubles 0
14 Fly Balls 11
0 Caught Stealing 0
169 Pitches 146
0 Games Started 0
0 Pinch At Bats 0
0 Pinch Hits 0
0.0 Player Rating 0.0
1 Is Qualified 1
0 Is Qualified In Steals 0
19 Total Bases 10
44 Plate Appearances 37
162.0 Projected Home Runs 162.0
6 Extra Base Hits 1
7.7 Runs Created 2.8
.278 Batting Average .212
.000 Pinch Hit Average .000
.528 Slugging Percentage .303
.444 Secondary Average .182
.409 On Base Percentage .297
.937 OBP Pct + SLG Pct .600
0.9 Ground To Fly Ball Ratio 1.0
7.7 Runs Created Per 27 Outs 2.8
59.5 Batter Rating 22.0
36.0 At Bats Per Home Run 33.0
0.00 Stolen Base Percentage 0.00
3.84 Pitches Per Plate Appearance 3.95
.250 Isolated Power .091
0.78 Walk To Strikeout Ratio 0.27
.159 Walks Per Plate Appearance .081
.167 Secondary Average Minus Batting Average -.030
18.0 Runs Produced 6.0
1.0 Runs Ratio 1.0
0.7 Patience Ratio 0.4
0.3 Balls In Play Average 0.3
99.3 MLB Rating 73.8
0.0 Offensive Wins Above Replacement 0.0
0.0 Wins Above Replacement 0.0

Game Information

Target Field

Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Attendance: 22,081 | Capacity:

2024 American League East Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
New York 94 68 .580 - W1
Baltimore 91 71 .562 3 W3
Boston 81 81 .500 13 W1
Tampa Bay 80 82 .494 14 L1
Toronto 74 88 .457 20 L3

2024 American League Central Standings

TEAM W L PCT GB STRK
Cleveland 92 69 .571 - L2
Kansas City 86 76 .531 6.5 W1
Detroit 86 76 .531 6.5 L2
Minnesota 82 80 .506 10.5 L4
Chicago 41 121 .253 51.5 W2
Full Standings