The Minnesota Twins scored twice in the first inning, banged out 12 hits for the day and held on for dear life in the ninth for a 4-2 win over the host Boston Red Sox on Saturday afternoon.
Trevor Larnach went 4-for-5 with a double and two runs to pace the Minnesota lineup and support a solid start from Taj Bradley (5-1). The right-hander struck out seven across five innings of one-run ball in his first start since coming off the injured list.
Austin Martin and Orlando Arcia each posted two hits and one RBI for the Twins, who have taken the first two games of the series. Brooks Lee added two hits.
Ceddanne Rafaela doubled and drove in the first run for Boston, which was limited to five hits.
Following opener Jovani Moran (0-2), who gave up two runs in his lone inning, Brayan Bello allowed two unearned runs on eight hits in a five-inning bulk appearance.
The Twins tagged Moran for three consecutive hits to start the game. After Byron Buxton and Larnach knocked singles, Martin’s line-drive double to left center drove in the opening run. Josh Bell’s sacrifice fly made it 2-0.
Bradley, making his first start since May 5 (right pec inflammation), did not allow a hit and faced the minimum through three innings before the Red Sox trimmed their deficit in the fourth.
Mickey Gasper got Boston started with a one-out single and Willson Contreras followed with a two-out single. Rafaela’s double to right drove in Gasper, but Contreras was tagged out at home trying to tie the game. Minnesota catcher Victor Caratini appeared to take exception to Contreras not sliding, which led to a minor benches-clearing skirmish.
The Twins extended their lead to 4-1 in the fifth as Larnach and Martin started with another pair of back-to-back singles. After Bell moved them into scoring position with a fielder’s choice, Caratini’s sacrifice fly and an Arcia single past the mound drove in runs.
Bradley fanned at least one in each of his five innings and turned the ball over to Kendry Rojas, who allowed one hit over three scoreless innings.
Andrew Morris struggled to throw strikes in the ninth, surrendering a single and two walks before Isiah Kiner-Falefa drew a bases-loaded walk to make it 4-2. Taylor Rogers entered with the tying run on second and struck out Jarren Duran looking for a one-out save.
–Field Level Media
