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.
Byron Buxton rockets one to the second deck! 😮 pic.twitter.com/qNjcHph2uu
— MLB (@MLB) April 15, 2026
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