Twins stay hot, pound Red Sox pitching behind Byron Buxton's two homers

After last season’s fire sale, the Twins are off to a hot start in 2026 and have overwhelmed Red Sox starters Garrett Crochet and Sonny Gray over the first two games of the series.

Byron Buxton has been the catalyst, putting together a monster performance Tuesday night, going 4-for-5 with two home runs, two RBI, four runs scored, and a strikeout in Minnesota’s 6-0 win. He’s now 6-for-10 with three homers and three RBI in the series after opening the season just 9-for-55 with one RBI.

Gray, who had looked sharp in back-to-back starts at Fenway Park against the Padres and Brewers, had no answers. The veteran allowed five earned runs on nine hits over his outing, walking one and striking out one while throwing 93 pitches (51 for strikes). He struggled to command the zone, throwing just 54.8% of his pitches for strikes. He also balked in the first inning. 

“I knew I didn’t have it, but I just tried to continue to compete,” Gray said. “I just kept thinking in my head, ‘You’re one pitch away, make a pitch,’ and I just wasn’t able to make that pitch. And I mean, I wasn’t good at all.”

“He lost it there,” Alex Cora told reporters of Gray’s outing. “They were relentless.”

Buxton got to Gray in the third inning, crushing a 79 mph curveball left over the heart of the plate for a 401-foot solo homer to left. Brooks Lee followed with a 371-foot shot to right in the fourth, and Trevor Larnach added a two-run single later in the inning to extend the lead to 5-0.

Gray’s inefficient outing came one day after Crochet’s worst start in the majors. Combined, the duo allowed 16 runs (15 earned) on 18 hits and four home runs over just 5 2/3 innings in the first two games of the series. Gray frequently worked deep into counts, finishing with eight three-ball counts and struggling to put hitters away.

“I just couldn’t focus as well as I needed to, that’s what it felt like the most,” Gray told reporters postgame. “Just wasn’t able to A) put us in a position to win, which I feel like is the job of starting pitching, like I said, and B) they just beat me. They beat me, and they beat us.”

Boston’s offense had no answers all night, managing just six hits and one walk while striking out 12 times. Sox hitters have struck out at least 10 times in eight of their first 17 games this year. They are 2-6 when scoring less than four runs, 0-10 when trailing after six innings, and 0-7 when opponents score first.

Mick Abel dominated, striking out five consecutive batters between the first and third innings. In the third, Roman Anthony singled with two outs, but a puzzling bunt from Caleb Durbin ended the threat. The Red Sox didn’t put a runner in scoring position until the fourth, when Willson Contreras reached on a hit-by-pitch and advanced on a passed ball, but went no further.

Andruw Monasterio later replaced Contreras at first base after he exited with low back tightness. 

“Brandon (Henry, head athletic trainer) feels it’s nothing serious,” Cora said of Contreras’ back, “but obviously we have to be careful, right? He’s so important to us.”

It would be a devastating blow to the Red Sox offense if Contreras were to miss any time.

The 33-year-old slugger is batting .298 with a .444/.491/.935 OPS, adding three home runs, two doubles, 11 RBIs, 11 walks, and 19 strikeouts across 17 games. He’s also been elite defensively at first base, ranking in the 99th percentile in outs above average (3), according to Baseball Savant. 

In the sixth, Monasterio appeared to draw a walk but unsuccessfully challenged a called third strike on a pitch that looked above the zone.

The Red Sox had a chance to break the shutout in the eighth against Taylor Rogers. Anthony doubled for Boston’s first extra-base hit of the night, and Durbin followed with a walk. But Rogers settled in, getting Masataka Yoshida to fly out and striking out Monasterio, looking to end the threat.

Boston turned to Aroldis Chapman in the eighth, his first appearance since April 7. The All-Star closer got his work in, hitting leadoff batter Kody Clemens but quickly recovering to strike out the next three hitters.

The lone bright spot for the Red Sox came from right-hander Jack Anderson, who made his major league debut. Entering in relief of Gray, Anderson struck out the side in the fifth and retired the first five batters he faced before Buxton connected for his second homer of the night.

“He did amazing, man,” Cora said of Anderson’s MLB debut. “Those are the cool things, as a manager, watching a guy just go out there and perform. … He gave us what we needed. In a tough situation, kind of saved the bullpen for tomorrow.”

Anderson learned of his promotion Monday night when WooSox manager Chad Tracy delivered the news.

“I didn’t get words out until like the third breath and then said, ‘Are you serious?’” Anderson said. “Because that would have been a pretty bad joke. But yeah, I finally got words out. I don’t remember much of the phone call, honestly.”

In the fifth inning, Jarren Duran grounded out to second base and the NESN camera’s caught him running back to the dugout and giving a middle finger to the stands. 

After the game, Duran told reporters he did that after a fan told him to take his own life. 

“Somebody just told me to kill myself. I’m used to it at this point. I mean, (expletive) happens. I mean, I’m gonna flip somebody off if they say something to me. But it is what it is. I shouldn’t react like that. But that kind of stuff is still kind of triggering. So it happens.”

Duran has had a struggle with mental health issues, highlighted by the Red Sox documentary that was on Netflix two years ago where he revealed he attempted suicide. 

“Honestly, it’s my fault for talking about my mental health because I kind of brought in the haters. So it’s something I’ve got to get used to.”

Cora told reporters postgame that he didn't witness the incident and hadn't reviewed video of it.

The Red Sox and Twins will wrap up their three-game series Wednesday at 1:40 p.m. ET. Left-hander Connelly Early (0-0, 2.63 ERA) is set to start for Boston, while Minnesota will counter with right-hander Simeon Woods Richardson (0-2, 4.60 ERA).