After holding for dear life in the opener, the Red Sox had themselves somewhat of a laugher in the second game of their doubleheader, hammering the Minnesota Twins 7-1 for their ninth straight win.
Blanked over the first four innings, the Red Sox erupted for six runs in the fifth inning, helped by some sudden wildness by Twins starter Jose Berrios and reliever Tyler Duffy, who combined for four walks and a wild pitch in that inning.
Alex Verdugo was the big offensive star, drilling a two-run single in the fifth before adding a solo homer in the seventh to provide some additional breathing room.
Eduardo Rodriguez allowed a run in the first but blanked the Twins thereafter.
WHO: Red Sox (8-3) vs. Minnesota Twins (5-6)
WHEN: 5:25 p.m.
WHERE: Target Field
SERIES TO DATE: BOS 2-0
STARTING PITCHERS: LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (1-0, 5.40) vs. RHP Jose Berrios (2-0, 1.54)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM
LINEUPS
RED SOX
Hernandez CF
Verdugo RF
Martinez DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Vazquez C
Gonzalez 2B
Dalbec 1B
Cordero LF
TWINS
Garver C
Donaldson 3B
Cruz DH
Garlick LF
Polanco SS
Arraez 2B
Sano 1B
Kepler RF
Cave CF
GAME 2 OBSERVATIONS
T7: Verdugo's big day continues with a bullet that clears the fence in RF for a solo homer.
T5: The endless inning continues for the Red Sox, with Devers, batting for the second time in the fifth, comes through with a two-run single to RF. Hard to believe they were down 1-0 at the start of this inning.
T5: Alex Verdugo, who preserved the lead in the first game, gives the Sox their first lead of this one, lining a bases-loaded single to right, scoring two.
T5: Looked like Berrios fell out of delivery when pitching from the stretch. Two walks, the second of which came with the bases loaded, resulting in the tying run being forced in. Berrios gone after just 77 pitches.
T5 Berrios has hung a number of breaking balls in this one and gotten away with it. Bogaerts missed one last inning and Marwin Gonzalez just fouled off another.
T5: Rafael Devers saw his homer streak stopped in the first game, but he's hammered the ball twice in the second game. In the second, he was robbed of extra bases on a fine catch by Jake Cave in center, and he leads off the fifth with a sharp double to CF.
T3: First real threat by Red Sox is quelled when Xander Bogaerts lined out softly back to the box, and Berrios calmly throws to second to double up Alex Verdugo.
T3: Red Sox have their hands full with Jose Berrios, who allowed a leadoff single to Enrique Hernandez to start the game, but has since retired the next eight in succession, including four by strikeout.
B2: For the second straight start, it looks like it's taking Rodriguez some time before his fastball really has some life. In the first inning, he was at 91-92 mph; in the second, he's closer to where he usually is at 94 mph.
B1: An aggressive approach for the Twins against Eduardo Rodriguez results in three singles and a sacrifice fly to produce a 1-0 lead.
GAME 1 WRAPUP
Despite stranding a dozen baserunners and going 3-for-18 with runners in scoring position, the Red Sox managed to hold off the Minnesota Twins, 3-2, for their eighth straight win.
Alex Verdugo made a diving catch for the final out of the game, preserving the one-run lead with the potential tying run on second base.
All three Red Sox runs came in the second inning, with the considerable help of a throwing error on the part of Minnesota starter Kenta Maeda, whose errant throw to third after fielding a sacrifice bunt resulted in two unearned runs.
Nathan Eovaldi went five innings and managed to weather a long third inning in which he threw 27 pi
GAME 1 IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T6: Like the weather in Minneapolis, J.D. Martinez has gone cold at the plate. He's 0-for-7 in the series, including 0-for-3 (with a walk) today.
T6: Arroyo's bid for a third base hit this afternoon is denied on a fine sliding catch from rookie outfielder Alex Kirrilloff.
T5: Frustrating afternoon for Red Sox offense. They've left baserunners in scoring position in four of the first five innings and are just 2-for-13 with RISP.
B4: Standout play from Marwin Gonzalez, who backhands a ball far to his right, to take a hit away from JT Riddle and saves a run.
B4: Looked like Franchy Cordero got caught in between on that one, unsure of whether to go for the catch. Ball dropped in, then Cordero boxed it for a second, allowing Jake Cave to go into second on an error.
B3: Eovaldi nicely works out of further trouble with a swinging strikeout and a squibber, stranding two baserunners and preserving the one-run lead.
B3: Nathan Eovaldi isn't nearly as efficient today as he was last time. Already at 50 pitches after just 2.1 innings.
T2: Not the best baserunning move by Plawecki, who goes on contact on a ball hit to the right side and is cut down at the plate for the first out of the inning.
T2: Red Sox aren't hitting the ball hard, with a couple of bloop hits. But three straight hits followed by the Twins botching a surprise sacrifice bunt by Kevin Plawecki results in two runs
T1: Missed call by the umpiring crew to start the game. Christian Arroyo clearly tipped that pitch and it wasn't handled cleanly by Ryan Jeffers, the Twins catcher, but Arroyo is rung up for a strikeout.
PRE-GAME STATS: In their seven-game winning streak, the Red Sox have a run differential of +30...The Sox are the first time to lose at least three straight games and follow it with a winning streak of seven or more games since the 1991 Seattle Mariners...This is the 20th time in franchise history that the Sox have won at least seven of their first 10 games to start a season, having recently done it in 2018 (9-1), 2015 (7-3), 2006 (7-3), and 2001 (7-3)...The Sox a perfect 4-0 on the road. The last time they won their first four road games was 2002, when they began 8-0 away from home....The Sox have come from behind in five of their first seven wins....The Red Sox have come from behind in 5 of their 7 wins...Third baseman Rafael Devers has homered in each of his four games, for a total of five homers. It's the longest homer streak of his career. He's the third player in franchise history to homer in four consecutive games before turning 25. The others? Babe Ruth (1918) and Ted Williams (1941)....The team record for consecutive games with at least one homer is five, shared by six players: Jimmie Foxx (1940), Ted Williams (1957), Dick Stuart (1963), George Scott (1977), Jose Canseco (1995), and Bobby Dalbec (2020)...Red Sox starters have gone five innings or more in nine of the first 10 games, including the last seven in a row...Alex Cora enters the doubleheader with 199 wins as Red Sox manager and a victory would make him the 19th manager to win 200 games in the Sox' dugout...He could become just the fourth manager in club history to win his 200th game in 335 games or fewer. The others: Joe McCarthy (323 in 1950), Don Zimmer (326 in 1978), Bill Carrigan (327 in 1915), and Terry Francona (334 in 2006)...Today marks the first time since 1985 that the Red Sox are playing a doubleheader in Minneapolis...Over his last six starts, Nathan Eovaldi is 4-1 with a 1.08 ERA, 0.90 WHIP and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 36-6...Matt Barnes has faced 19 batters this season and has retired 18 of them, with 12 coming via strikeout....The Sox lead the AL in runs scored (62), doubles (28), AVG (.277), slugging percentage (.479), and OPS (.812)....J.D. Martinez leads the majors in RBI (16), XBH (12), doubles (7), and total bases (39) and is second in HR (tied, 5), slugging (.975), and OPS (1.427). His .425 AVG ranks fourth in the AL and sixth in the majors...Max Kepler is 3-for-8 with two homers lifetime against Eovaldi while Jorge Polanco is 3-for-5....Hunter Renfroe is 6-for-23 with two homers and Marwin Gonzalez is 2-for-3 with a homer...Martinez, meanwhile, is 0-for-9.
NOTES:
- The Red Sox announced that RHP Bryan Mata underwent Tommy John surgery in Los Angeles Tuesday. The surgery was performed by Dr. Neal ElAttrache. Mata had been sidelined with some forearm soreness in the middle of spring training. Aside from Tanner Houck, who has appeared in five big league games over the last two seasons, Mata was considered the organization's best pitching prospect in the upper levels, with the chance to make his major league debut in the second half of this season. He'll now be sidelined until mid-way through the 2022 season.
- The Red Sox added righthanded pitcher Eduardo Bazardo as their 27th man for the doubleheader. "He's going to help us,'' said Cora. "Throughout the season, this guy, he'll help us. Good fastball and a breaking ball that everyone in the organization talks about. He's a strike-throwing machine. He's not afraid. He attacks the strike zone with good stuff. He impressed a lot of people last year. He impressed me in spring training. He's one of the guys who we talked about at the end of spring training. For us to accomplish what we're trying to accomplish, he will be a factor during the season.'' Cora said the Sox tabbed Bazardo over Colten Brewer, who was already with the team as part of its five-man traveling taxi squad. "Colten is a little banged up,'' revealed Cora. "When he got here, he threw a bullpen and he didn't feel good.''
- Today was constitute the first seven-inning doubleheader that Cora will manage. The rule was introduced in 2020, but Cora was suspended for the season. "Love it,'' said Cora of the rule. "It a lot different. The urgency of the game is a lot different. We're here to try to win ballgames. That's the mentality.''
- Cora said Christian Arroyo has been working out at first base, but isn't quite ready to play there in a game.