MINNEAPOLIS -- An eighth inning meltdown -- conducted jointly by the bullpen and outfield defense -- sank the Red Sox in the opener of their series at Target Field, leading to a 6-2 loss to the Minnesota Twins.
After the Red Sox had rallied to tie the game at 2-2 in the top of the eighth, Robby Scott, called up from Pawtucket earlier in the day, put two baserunners on with a walk and a hit batsman. After one out, Joe Kelly entered and yielded a hard line drive to center by Eduardo Escobar which Jackie Bradley Jr. uncharacteristically overran, allowing both baserunners to score and Escobar to take third.
Kelly then issued a walk and a two-run triple to Robbie Grossman, accounting for two more runs.
Starter Chris Sale was superb over seven innings, retiring the first 14 hitters he faced before allowing two runs on a double by Esocbar in the seventh.
The Sox, who had taken a 1-0 lead in the sixth on a solo homer by Rafael Devers, rallied in the eighth on a run-scoring, opposite-field, two-out single from Sandy Leon to pull even. But that was short-lived.
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
10:40 Huge hit from Sandy Leon, who lined an opposite-field single to right to score Rafael Devers from second base, tying the game at 2-2. That's just the ninth RBI of the season for Leon.
10:24 It's not often that you see J.D. Martinez fooled at the plate, but he didn't have a good at-bat against Twins reliever Trevor Hildenberger. Martinez swung at a tough changeup on the lower outside part of the plate to fall behind, then, on a 1-and-2 count, got tied up swinging at a changeup low and in off the plate, stranding two runners in scoring position.
10:02 Classic case of bad-ball hitting there by Minnesota's Eduardo Escobar, who gets a slider from Sale an inch or two off the ground and golfs it down the left field line for a two-run double, giving the Twins their first lead of the night.
9:46 That wasn't exactly a textbook approach by Devers. He was ahead 2-and-1, and swung at a changeup outside the strike zone, but made strong enough contract to hit it out to right for homer No. 12. Third homer of the road trip for Devers, who has hit eight of his 12 homers on the road.
9:09 Poor situational hitting so far by the Red Sox, who have put the leadoff man on in three of the first four innings, but haven't been able to score. The Sox had a runner at third with two outs in the first a runner at third witn one out in the third and runners at first and second and no out in the fourth -- and came up empty each time.
9:07 Rafael Devers has been having better at-bats of late -- he hit the ball hard in three different at-bats Sunday, including a homer that was measured at more than 440 feet. But in the fourth, with two on and no one out, Devers chased a pitch well above the strike zone for strike three.
8:53 Rare instance in which Andrew Benintendi didn't get the runner in from third with less than two outs. He strikes out against Jose Berrios; previously, Benintendi had been 7-for-13 in such situations.
8:40 Chris Sale has been relying on his slider in the early going and getting some swing-and-misses with it. Last time out in Baltimore, the pitch, ordinarily an important weapon for Sale, was not as effective.
WHO: Red Sox at Minnesota Twins
WHEN: 8:10 p.m.
WHERE: Target Field
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox begin the third and final series of their 10-game road trip with the first of three against the Twins. The two teams play a million times -- or so it seems -- in spring training, but haven't seen each other since late March. The Sox have won five of the first seven on the trip and are 21-10 in their last 31 games. The Twins have had a disappointing first three months and sit in third place in the A.L. Central. They've just returned from a 3-3 road trip, and tonight marks the start of a six-game homestand.
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Chris Sale (6-4, 2.75 ERA) vs. RHP Jose Berrios (7-5, 3.51 ERA).
TV/RADIO: NESN/WEEI 93.7 FM
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Betts RF
Benintendi LF
Bogaerts SS
Martinez DH
Moreland 1B
Devers 3B
Nunez 2B
Leon C
Bradley CF
TWINS
Mauer 1B
Rosario LF
Escobar 3B
Dozier 2B
Grossman DH
Adrianza SS
Motter RF
Garver C
LaMarre CF
NEWS AND NOTES:
- The Sox called up LHP Robby Scott from Pawtucket and optioned Justin Haley. Alex Cora cited the fact that the Twins have a number of lefty hitters and switch hitters as the reason for the move. "We took a look at it the last few days and although we have (Brian Johnson), we needed one more (lefty) to match up,'' said Cora. "It was the right time. He's throwing the ball well. We're very comfortable with him now.''
- Cora had Xander Bogaerts hitting third and hinted he may do more of it. "It's more about J.D. (Martinez),'' said Cora. "Earlier in the season, we had (Martinez) in the fourth hole. Then, obviously, with the adjustments we've made to the roster (with the release of Hanley Ramirez), I started hitting him third. But I've kind of gone back to what I said in spring training when we got him -- either he hits with men on in the first inning or he leads off the second inning. Xander's been swinging the bat well. He's been getting on base at the usual clip and he's driving the ball, too. Just having those three (Mookie Betts, Andrew Benintendi and Bogaerts), then J.D. and Mitch (Moreland) hitting fifth, I think it will be good for Mitch too, just to hit behind J.D. and try to go the other way with men in scoring position.
- LHP Drew Pomeranz (biceps tendonitis) threw on flat ground and felt better. Pomeranz has also been slowed in the last week by a stiff neck.
- 2B Dustin Pedroia is still sidelined with inflammation and discomfort and Cora acknowledged that there's concern that, some three weeks after he was first sidelined, he's been unable to resume baseball activities. "Same deal,'' said Cora. "We're waiting for the swelling and pain to go away and we'll go from there. It's been up-and-down. Yeah, (we're disappointed) and him too. But like we said before, it was major surgery and we didn't know what to expect. We are where we're are. We're hoping that, yeah, he'll be back, but we don't know when. I still believe that he's going to contribute this season.''