Red Sox rally falls short in ninth, fall to 8-16 at home with 4-2 loss to Twins

The Red Sox’s struggles at Fenway Park continued Saturday afternoon.

Boston fell to 8-16 at home this season after dropping a 4-2 decision to the Minnesota Twins. The Red Sox mounted a late rally in the ninth inning but ultimately came up short. 

Willson Contreras sparked Boston’s ninth-inning rally with a leadoff single as the Red Sox trailed 4-1. Ceddanne Rafaela followed with a walk, giving the Red Sox two runners aboard with nobody out.

Nick Sogard, making the start at shortstop, then lifted a fly ball to right field for the first out before pinch-hitter Masataka Yoshida grounded into a force play, leaving Boston down to its final out.

With the bases loaded, Twins reliever Andrew Morris lost the strike zone and issued consecutive walks to Connor Wong and Isiah Kiner-Falefa, forcing home a run and trimming Minnesota’s lead to 4-2.

Minnesota then turned to veteran left-hander Taylor Rogers to record the final out. Rogers fell behind Jarren Duran before freezing the Red Sox leadoff hitter with a full-count sweeper on the outside corner, ending the game and stranding the tying runs on base.

The Red Sox found themselves in an early hole after opener Jovani Morán struggled through the first inning.

The left-hander allowed two runs on a double and two singles before settling down, forcing Boston to play from behind for the remainder of the afternoon.

Morán’s struggles as an opener have become a stark contrast to his effectiveness in a traditional relief role. In three innings as an opener this season, he owns a 15.00 ERA, allowing five earned runs. As a reliever, however, Morán has been one of Boston’s most reliable bullpen arms, posting a 1.90 ERA while surrendering just five earned runs across 23 2/3 innings.

Given those splits, it’s fair to wonder whether the Red Sox may be better served keeping Morán in the role where he has been most successful rather than continuing to use him as an opener.

Unfortunately for Morán, he has been thrust into the opener role largely because of Brayan Bello’s struggles as a traditional starter.

Bello entered in the second inning Saturday and delivered one of his better outings of the season, tossing five innings without allowing an earned run. The right-hander scattered eight hits, walked one, and was charged with two unearned runs while helping stabilize the game after Minnesota took an early lead. 

“He was hit-and-miss,” Chad Tracy said of Bello. “There were some stretches where he looked really good. I thought he battled. … We faced a lot of traffic in the first five innings, so to navigate through it and keep the game within reach was good.”

Bello ran into trouble in the fifth inning when Trevor Larnach and Austin Martin opened the frame with back-to-back singles. Moments later, Contreras committed his first error of the season, allowing Josh Bell to reach and load the bases with nobody out.

After retiring Kody Clemens on a fly ball to left field, he got Victor Caratini to lift a fly ball to right. Larnach tagged from third and broke for home as Wilyer Abreu fired a strike to Connor Wong at the plate.

Wong attempted a high swipe tag, but Larnach’s outstretched arm slipped across home plate just before the catcher’s glove made contact with his helmet. The Red Sox challenged the safe call, but after review, the ruling stood and Minnesota extended its lead to 3-1.

One batter later, Orlando Arcia lined a single to bring home another run, pushing the Twins’ advantage to 4-1 before Bello finally escaped the inning.

It marked the eighth time in Bello’s career that he had completed at least five innings without surrendering an earned run. The last such outing came against the Yankees in August 2025.

With Garrett Crochet inching towards coming off the injured list, Bello’s spot in the rotation is in jeopardy. 

“Not something we’ve talked about a lot, but obviously, you can’t ignore Garrett as he keeps getting closer,” Tracy continued. “And he’ll be very much a factor here when he gets back. So we haven’t got too far into it, because Garrett still got boxes to check, and we’ll deal with that when it comes.”

Rookie relievers Tyler Samaniego and Ryan Watson pitched scoreless eighth and ninth innings.

While Bello kept Boston within striking distance, the offense offered little support.

The Red Sox managed just five hits, though they did draw six walks, and struck out 11 times. Boston went a dismal 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight runners on base, continuing a season-long trend of missed opportunities in key situations.

Minnesota starter Taj Bradley kept the Red Sox lineup off balance throughout his five-inning outing. The right-hander allowed one run on three hits, walked two, and struck out seven while throwing 73 pitches, 48 for strikes.

Boston had a few chances against Bradley but failed to capitalize, going 1-for-3 with runners in scoring position and leaving two runners aboard during his time on the mound. Bradley faced the minimum over the first three innings. 

In the bottom of the second inning, Bradley issued a four-pitch leadoff walk to Contreras but quickly escaped trouble. He struck out Rafaela before Sogard swung at the first pitch and grounded into an inning-ending double play.

The Red Sox finally got on the board in the fourth when Rafaela lined an RBI double into the gap, but a costly baserunning mistake prevented Boston from doing more damage.

Contreras attempted to score from first on the play and appeared to run through third-base coach Chad Epperson’s stop sign. By the time he reached home plate, Twins catcher Caratini was waiting with the ball and applied the tag easily as Contreras arrived standing up.

Rather than sliding, Contreras collided with Caratini while trying to avoid the tag, resulting in a brief confrontation at home plate.

Caratini put his arm around Contreras’ shoulder and appeared to exchange words with the Red Sox first baseman before players from both dugouts and bullpens spilled onto the field. The situation quickly cooled without escalating further, and order was restored after a brief benches-clearing incident.

“It wasn’t anything malicious,” said Contreras, “or anything at all. It was not (done with) any bad intentions. I played with him in Chicago for a long time. When I was getting to home plate and saw that I was going to be out. I tried to stop myself, but at the end of the day, if I dive, I might hit him harder.

“I took exception to that, but there wasn’t anything bad or malicious to that play. He told me I should have (tried to) slide or something like that. From my perspective, (in that case) I might have hit him harder than what actually happened. But at the end of the day, that’s a tough play. I needed to try to touch home plate because that’s what I needed to do.”

The Twins have now won three straight games, five of their last six, and nine of their last 13 since May 9. They also secured the season series against the Red Sox for the first time since 2022 and have won multiple series against Boston in the same season for the first time since 2006.

The Red Sox will look to avoid the sweep and will wrap up their three-game series Sunday afternoon with the Twins at Fenway Park. Boston will send right-hander Sonny Gray (5-1, 2.93 ERA) to the mound looking to salvage a series split, while Minnesota counters with fellow right-hander Bailey Ober (5-2, 3.63 ERA). First pitch is scheduled for 1:35 p.m. ET.

Gray has been one of the few constants in Boston’s rotation this season, while Ober has quietly put together another solid campaign for a Twins club that has given the Red Sox trouble throughout the weekend. With Boston continuing to battle offensive inconsistency, the matchup shapes up as another game in which run prevention could be at a premium.