All you need to know about the Red Sox' win over the Twins, complete with BSJ analysis and insight:
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Dalbec delivers: Heading into the game, the rookie first baseman was hitting just .120 and had driven in a solitary run in the first nine games. But Dalbec contributed two huge run-scoring doubles to right field -- one in the fifth to tie the game 2-2 and another in the eighth to put the Sox up 3-2, their first lead of the afternoon. Both times, he cut down a bit on his swing and lashed a ball into the right field corner, scoring Christian Arroyo both times. Dalbec's best tool, of course, is his power, which is considerable. But he's also a smart enough hitter that he make contact and produces quality at-bats even when he's not hitting the ball out of the ballpark. And on a day when the chill limited hitters and the Sox got only one from the first four spots in the lineup, Dalbec helped produce some runs from the bottom third of the order.
Cold, cold, cold: The game-time temperature was 33 degrees, the coldest temperature for a Red Sox game since a 1979 game in Cleveland. Periodically, throughout the first half of the game, snow flurries appeared. A number of players noted postgame that the conditions were as cold as they could remember. Manager Alex Cora had to go back to a game in his minor league career in Wichita in 1997 to recall a colder environment. But somehow, the Sox soldiered through and starter Martin Perez, in fact, got rid of his long sleeves under his uniform in the first inning, complaining that layers to provide warmth were making is tough for him to throw freely. He seemed to be onto something, since the first inning was the only one of the five he threw in which the Twins scored. He also needed 25 pitches to get the first three outs; after the first, he didn't throw more than 19 pitches in any one inning.
Yet another come-from-behind win: In their seven-game winning streak, the Red Sox have already had five wins that were of the comeback variety. In two of those wins, the Sox had to rally in the ninth to force extra innings; on Tuesday, they never led until the eighth inning. Of course, it helps to have a bullpen performing the way this one is, ensuring that deficits don't get any steeper while the offense is trying to come back. The Twins didn't score after the first inning Tuesday and Red Sox relievers faced only three batters over the minimum in the final four innings while allowing just one hit in that span.
TURNING POINT
Clinging to a one-run lead in the bottom of the eighth, Darwinzon Hernandez got himself into some trouble, with a one-out walk followed by a bloop single to left. That gave the Twins two on with one out and, after he fell behind Andrelton Simmons. That predicament led to a small gathering at the mound, with the infield and pitching coach Dave Bush paying a visit. Whatever got said seemed to work because Hernandez soon got Simmons on a weak popup to shallow left and ended the threat by retiring Jake Cave on a forceout.
TWO UP
Rafael Devers: Yes, there was a throwing error -- not a bad one, actually -- but he also completely crushed a pitch in the eighth inning, providing some important late-game padding and giving him homers in four straight games.
Christian Arroyo: Getting more opportunities at second base, Arroyo is making the most of his chances. He turned in a couple of big plays in the field and also had two hits and two runs scored.
ONE DOWN
Christian Vazquez: The catcher has wielded a hot bat of late -- enough to get him some fill-in time at DH -- but he a rough go of it at the plate, going 0-for-4 while stranding two baserunners.
QUOTE OF NOTE
"It was cold, man. I didn't feel my fingers in the first inning.'' Martin Perez.
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- For the first time this season when he was in the lineup, J.D. Martinez didn't produce an extra-base hit.
- Rafael Devers became the 19th Red Sox player in history to homer in at least four straight games.
- The Sox' seven-game winning streak is the team's longest since 2018.
- The victory was the first this season in which the Sox didn't score at least six runs.
- Xander Bogaerts extended his personal hitting streak at Target Field to 13 games with an infield single in the second inning.