Having scratched and clawed their way back with four runs from the seventh inning on -- including a dramatic, game-tying two-run homer from Kyle Schwarber in the ninth -- the Red Sox then handed the game right back to the Minnesota Twins.
The Twins recovered from blowing a two-run lead in the ninth by homering twice off Red Sox reliever -- and former Twin -- Hansel Robles in the 10th, Josh Donaldson hit a two-run shot and Jake Cave later cranked a three-run belt en route to a 9-6 victory.
The Sox trailed 4-0 after four innings and didn't score their first run until the seventh. Along the way, they stranded a dozen baserunners and were just 3-for-13 with runners in scoring position.
WHO: Red Sox (72-55) vs. Minnesota Twins (54-71)
WHEN: 7:10 p.m.
WHERE: Fenway Park
SERIES TO DATE: BOS 1-0
SEASON SERIES TO DATE: BOS 4-1
STARTING PITCHERS: RHP Nick Pivetta ( 9-6, 4.43) vs. RHP Bailey Ober (1-2, 4.38)
TV/RADIO: NESN; WEEI-FM 93.7
LINEUPS
TWINS
Kepler RF
Polanco 2B
Donaldson DH
Arraez 3B
Sano 1B
Gordon CF
Jeffers CF
Cave LF
Simmons SS
RED SOX
Hernandez 2B
Schwarber DH
Bogaerts SS
Devers 3B
Martinez LF
Verdugo CF
Renfroe RF
Shaw 1B
Vazquez C
IN-GAME OBSERVATIONS:
T10: Hansel Robles can't recapture the magic from Tuesday night. His second pitch to Donaldson is hit out to right for a two-run shot and the Twins lead again.
B9: In keeping with the theme of the rest of the night, the Red Sox put the potential winning run on second with no out in the ninth, but can't produce the hit to go ahead. To extra innings we go.
B9: First homer since joining the Sox for Schwarber , who cranks a two-run shot into the CF bleachers off Alex Colome to tie the game at 4-4.
B8: Signs of life for the Red Sox who use a single by Verdugo and a Wall single by Hunter Renfroe to close to within 4-2.
B7: Bogaerts takes a called third strike, leaving runners at the corners. Sox are just 2-for-8 with RISP.
B7: Sox show signs of life with a double by Travis Shaw and two singles, producing their first run of the night. First-and-second, one out for Schwarber.
B6: Giant squander by the Red Sox, who get the first two runners on base in the sixth, then can't do anything with the opportunity.
T6: Two solid innings of relief from Austin Davis, who retires six in a row -- four on groundouts and two strikeouts.
B4: More baserunning follies as Verdugo hits a ball high off The Wall, but takes far too wide a turn and is thrown out trying to get back to the bag.
T4: Pivetta misses badly with a pitch and Jorge Polanco drills it over the Twins bullpen, doubling Minnesota's lead.
B3: Terrible baserunning by Christian Vazquez. On second base, he waited to make sure Kyle Schwarber's liner to the right-center gap fell in. Should have scored, instead forced to stop at third.
B3: A sharp line single to left with one out in the third from Christian Vazquez and the Red Sox have their first hit of the game.
T3: Yikes --Miguel Sano clears everything in left, hammering a slider down-and-away 495 feet. That's got to be the longest homer in MLB this season.
T2: Alex Verdugo saves Pivetta's bacon with a leaping catch on the warning track, robbing Josh Donaldson of extra bases with the bases loaded.
T2: Andrelton Simmons golfs a pitch an inch above the plate into center for a single, scoring Nick Gordon from third and for the second straight night, the Twins take a 1-0 lead.
T2: Brutal start to date for Nick Pivetta. Infield hit and a walk to open the first. Now, a walk and a hit-by-pitch to open the second.
WHAT'S UP: The Red Sox have won their last two games and are 3-1 in their last four...They are 7-5 in their last 12 games, after going 2-10 in their previous 12. The Sox are 17-19 since the All-Star break....The Red Sox are 6-1 in their last seven home games and 21-8 in their last 29...Overall, their .615 win % at home ranks tied for third n the AL (tied for sixth in MLB). In their last nine home games, the Sox have scored 77 runs (8.6 per game) and hit 18 HR...They scored six or more runs in seven of those games (all wins) and 11 or more runs in three of them...Hunter Renfroe (two HR last night) leads the majors with 10 HR in August, his most in any calendar month of his career...He has four HR in his last 4 games. Renfroe is 1 of 5 players to hit 25+ HR in each season from 2017-19 and in 2021 (also Kyle Schwarber, Nolan Arenado, Nelson Cruz, Aaron Judge). Renfroe has averaged 417 feet per homer this season, the longest average in the AL (min. 10 HR) and tied with Shohei Ohtani and Fernando Tatis Jr. for the 4th-longest average in the majors...The Red Sox have hit seven HR in their last 2 games...Last night marked their 12th game with four or more HR, tied with SF for most in the majors (12-0 in those games). The Sox’ 164 HR this season have averaged a projected distance of 405 feet, the second-longest average in the AL behind only the Twins (406 feet). The Sox lead the majors with 30 HR with at least two runners on base (27 three-run, 3 grand slams)......The Red Sox lead the majors in doubles (264) and XBH (445) and rank sixth in runs per game (5.02), third iin AVG (.259), second in SLG (.444), and third in OPS (.768). The Red Sox own MLB’s best records when scoring four or more runs (.853, 64-11) and five or more runs (tied, .902, 55-6). The Sox have scored 10+ runs in a game 16 times (tied for second-most in MLB) and 15+ runs three times (most in AL)...The Red Sox lead the majors in runs scored with two outs (268)...With RISP & two outs, the Sox lead the majors in AVG (.271) and OPS (.852). With two strikes, the Sox lead MLB in RBI (257) & XBH (156)...Six of their last eight RBI hits have come with two strikes....The Red Sox have come from behind in each of their last two wins...They rank second in the majors with 37 comeback wins (Rays-38). The Sox are 8-3 in extra-inning games, MLB’s third-best record behind PIT (5-1) and SEA (12-4... Travis Shaw ended Monday’s game vs. TEX with an 11th-inning grand slam, then tied yesterday’s game at 1-1 with a third-inning solo HR. Kyle Schwarber has a .516 OBP in eight games with the Sox (8-for-23, 8 BB)...During his current career-long 21- game on-base streak, Schwarber has hit .361 with a 1.388 OPS (26-for-72, 14 BB, 16 XBH...In their last 16 games (beginning 8/7), Red Sox starters have a 3.26 ERA....That is the Sox’ 3rd-lowest starter ERA over any 16-game span this season...In that time, starters have struck out 91 batters and walked 18. In that 16-game stretch, Nathan Eovaldi (3 GS) and Chris Sale (2 GS) have combined to post a 1.55 ERA with 36 SO and 3 BB...The Sox have 35 games left in the regular season...19 of those are vs. teams with a losing record (BAL-6, CLE6, WSH-3, NYM-2, MIN-2) and 16 are vs. teams with a winning record (TB-7, NYY-3, CWS-3, SEA-3....Since Kiké Hernández returned to the leadoff spot on 6/27, he leads the AL in OBP (.407) and ranks tied for third in walks (33)...In 49 games during that time, he has a .957 OPS while leading the Red Sox in hits (53), runs (33), XBH (25, tied), and total bases (100....Red Sox outfielders lead MLB with 35 assists and rank sixth with 17 defensive runs saved (source: FanGraphs)...Boston’s single-season high in OF assists since 2000 is 37 (2014 and 2019)...Rafael Devers ranks among the top three in the majors in doubles (1st, 34), RBI (2nd, 91), and XBH (3rd, 64)...With one more HR, he would join Ted Williams as the only Red Sox to record multiple 30-HR seasons before turning 25 (Devers hit 32 HR in 2019....Among the 172 pitchers with at least 60.0 IP this season, Garrett Whitlock ranks first in the AL and third in MLB with a 1.64 ERA. Whitlock has made 21 scoreless appearances of more than 1.0 IP, most in MLB.....Nick Pivetta has allowed one or no HR in each of his last 8 starts (5 HR total). Has thrown 6.0+ innings in five of his last 10 starts; allowed one or no runs in four of those five.....Leads Sox starters in opponent AVG (.228)...Ranks second in WHIP (1.29) and SO/9.0 IP (10.00) and third in strikeouts (140). Ranks seventh among qualified AL pitchers in SO/9.0 IP (10.00) (min. 120 IP) and eight in opponent AVG vs. LHB (.217; min. 150 AB).
NOTES:
* Matt Barnes, having pitched the previous two games, is unavailable Wednesday night, but the Red Sox know he's got work to do based on his struggles in recent weeks. "Obviously with Barnesy, we've got to keep working, we've got to keep searching,'' said Alex Cora. "The results are not there. This happens to a lot of closers, if you look around the leagues. It happens, but we've got to correct it. We've got to work with him and we've got to get him in a better place. We'll see how the games go. We'll use him accordingly. I don't want to say, 'He's the closer,' or 'He's not the closer,' or 'He's the set-up guy.' We've got to him right. That's the most important thing. And there's different ways of doing that -- low-leverage situations, a big lead late in the game. We've got to figure some things out today, as far as mechanics or whatever we find from there.''
* The Sox are still hoping to have Kyle Schwarber at first base Thursday. Schwarber was the DH Wednesday, with J.D. Martinez in left field. "Kyle is eager, so most likely, that's the goal right now,'' said Cora. "We'll talk about it, see where we're at physically and make a decision. But I would love him to play first base tomorrow.''
* Cora expressed disappoint with the defensive play of first baseman Bobby Dalbec. "It's been a struggle,'' acknowledged Cora. "He's been inconsistent. He was a good defensive player in college at third base and I thought the position was going to be a lot better than we have seen. The numbers are there. We've been working hard with him. He's had plenty of repetitions and he's been at that position for a while. He keeps working on it. But honestly it's something we've got to keep working on it and try to get him better because it's been up and down all season.''