The Red Sox ran their winning streak to seven with yet another comeback win, overtaking the Minnesota Twins, 4-2.
Bobby Dalbec had two run-scoring doubles and Rafael Devers added a big homer in the eighth to provide some breathing room.
Martin Perez navigated through constant traffic in the biting cold over the first five innings to limit the Twins to two runs. Minnesota managed two runs in the first, then was blanked the rest of the way.
WHO: Red Sox (6-3) vs. Minnesota Twins (5-4)
WHEN: 2:10 p.m.
WHERE: Target Field
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: 0-0
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Martin Perez (0-0, 5.40) vs. LHP J.A. Happ (0-0, 2.25)
TV/RADIO: NESN, MLB Network; WEEI-FM
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Verdugo LF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Vazquez C
Renfroe RF
Arroyo 2B
Dalbec 1B
TWINS
Buxton CF
Garlick RF
Garver C
Polanco 2B
Sano DH
Arraez 3B
Astudillo 1B
Simmons SS
Cave RF
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T9: Rafael Devers gets a pitch down and in, right in his wheelhouse, and golfs a monster shot to right. That's four straight games with at least one homer for Devers, for a total of five homers. Huge insurance run.
T8: With runners at first and second and one out, Sox had a chance to add on with Martinez at the plate. But he hits into an inning-ending double play and the lead remains one.
T8: For the third straight time, Dalbec goes the other way. And for the second straight time, he ropes a run-scoring double to right, scoring Arroyo.
B6: Hirokazu Sawamura humps up to 97 mph for a swing-and-miss by Jake Cave for the third out.
B6: Second throwing error this afternoon for a Red Sox infielder, this one to Bogaerts. Perhaps he couldn't get a good grip with the cold, but whatever the reason, a high throw pulls Dalbec way off the bag and Twins have a leadoff man on base.
T5: Dalbec slices a double through the snow and into the RF corner, scoring Arroyo and the Sox have tied it.
T5: Hunter Renfroe's first homer as a member of the Red Sox is feat -- smoked to straightaway CF, into the teeth of the wind, and just hitting the top of the wall before bouncing over.
B4: Perez gets Kyle Garlick on a cutter up in the zone, stranding two. It's kind of incredible that Perez, for all the traffic, has limited the Twins to just two runs through four.
B4: Tough break for the Red Sox, who have Arroyo perfectly positioned behind the second base bag, but a sharp grounder by Byron Buxton strikes the bag and takes off on Arroyo, resulting in first-and-third for the Twins.
T3: First time through the order, three righthanded Red Sox hitters- -- J.D. Martinez, Arroyo and Dalbec -- have all hit the ball hard the other way. But with the cold weather, the ball isn't traveling and each one died on the warning track in RF.
B2: Second throwing error of the season for Rafael Devers. But with a big hop, looked like that was one Bobby Dalbec should have been able to scoop. Instead, throw gets down the line and Jake Cave ends up on second base.
T2: Red Sox miss out of a chance to get back into this one -- had first-and-second and no out, but a double play and a three-pitch strikeout of Hunter Renfroe takes them out of the inning quickly.
B1: With the bases loaded, the Sox had the infield back on Luis Arraez, but the ball hit to second wasn't hit nearly hard enough to turn two as the Twins score their second run.
B1: Very quickly, Martin Perez finds himself in a mess. Trouble with his control has the bases loaded (one HB, one BB) with no out in the bottom of the first.
PRE-GAME STATS: The Red Sox are tied with the Angels and Astros for the best record in the American League...In their current six-game winning streak, the Sox have a run differential of +28...The current streak is the longest for the team since June of 2019..The last time they had a streak of longer than six games was 2018, when they had three different eight-game streaks...The Sox lead the AL in runs scored (58) and batting average (.283)...The last time the Sox had six straight games of at least six runs scored and 10 hits was May of 2016 when they had a seven-game streak...J.D. Martinez has 12 extra-base hits, the most ever by an American League player in his first eight games of a season and the most for a Sox player in the team's first nine games....Martinez also has 16 RBI, tying him with Shea Hillenbrand (2003) for the most by a Red Sox player in the club’s first nine games...Martinez has one RBI or more in each of his last seven games, matching the longest such streak of his career. He also had a seven-game run in September of 2017....Rafael Devers, who began the season hitless in 13 at-bats has since gone 8-for-19 and has homered in three consecutive games...Devers has 191 extra-base hits in his first 400 games with the Red Sox...The only other Sox players in history to top that are Ted Williams and Nomar Garciaparra, each with 219....Since the start of 2007, the Sox are 7-1-1 in season series against the Twins...Since the start of 2016, the Sox have scored eight or more runs in half of their 12 games at Target Field and have outscored the Twins 8-4-43 in that stretch...Xander Bogaerts has hit in his last 12 games at Target Field (25-for-59) for a .424 average and an OPS of 1.147...Bogaerts is 11-for-2o for a .550 clip overall and has reached base multiple times in each of his last 5 games....Alex Verdugo has five extra-base hits and nine runs scored in hids last five games, with two runs scored in each of his last four games...Kiké Hernández has hit in four straight and is 7-for-20 (.350)....Against Sox starter Martin Perez, Nelson Cruz is 9-for-30 with three homers lifetime...Andrelton Simmons is 7-for-23....Bogaerts is just 8-for-47 in his career against J.A. Happ while Devers is just 5-for-29.
NEWS AND NOTES:
- Alex Cora made some adjustments to his lineup after Monday's postponement. J.D. Martinez is now back at DH, Christian Vazquez is back behind the plate, Hunter Renfroe is back in right, Enrique Hernandez is in center and Alex Verdugo in left.
- The postponement Monday has resulted in a doubleheader set for tomorrow, both seven-inning games. Cora said the Sox will start Nathan Eovaldi pitching the first one and Eduardo Rodriguez pitching the second. That leaves Garrett Richards for the series finale Thursday and Nick Pivetta on track to pitch the first game of the homestand Friday night. After that, the Sox will need another starter for Saturday, since Perez would otherwise be pitching on short rest. That assignment is likely to go to Tanner Houck.
- The Sox will be permitted to add a 27th player to the roster for the doubleheader tomorrow. Cora said it will be a pitcher. That pitcher could be taken from the traveling taxi squad with the team (Colten Brewer and Ryan Weber).
- Danny Santana is in extended spring training and working his way back from a foot infection which sidelined him for the final two weeks of spring training. "Hopefully, he can get some at-bats soon and we can see where he's at,'' said Cora.