After gaining a cushion in the American League wild-card race with their series-opening win, the Minnesota Twins will look for another victory over the host Boston Red Sox on Saturday.
Minnesota (81-73), which broke through for a three-run 12th inning in its 4-2 triumph on Friday, will now turn to ace right-hander Pablo Lopez with a chance to win the series.
A day after being held to three hits in a 3-2, 10-inning loss at Cleveland, the Twins struck for 13 hits against the Red Sox. The top five batters in the Minnesota order produced two-hit efforts in a result that gave the Twins a one-game lead over the Detroit Tigers for the final AL playoff spot.
“It’s a really important eight games that we have left, so it was a huge (win) for sure,” Twins shortstop Carlos Correa said. “The way everyone came together to make it happen was really special. … The message is simple: Never give up.”
Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner had RBI singles in the 12th inning, while the eight pitchers who followed Twins starter David Festa to the mound allowed a total of five hits and one unearned run in seven innings.
The Twins have the utmost confidence in Lopez, who is 5-0 with a 1.35 ERA over seven straight quality starts since his Aug. 6 loss to the Chicago Cubs.
Lopez (15-8, 3.84 ERA) had won four straight starts prior to Monday at Cleveland. He pitched 6 1/3 innings in an eventual 4-3 Twins loss, striking out four while allowing two runs on eight hits and two walks.
“He pitched so well until (the seventh),” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Lopez. “A leadoff walk, that’s not … like him.”
Lopez is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in two career starts against the Red Sox, including a win on May 4, when he fanned eight while tossing six innings of one-run ball.
The series opener featured no good news for Boston (76-78), which is two games below .500 for the first time since May 18.
The Red Sox have scored three or fewer runs in five straight games, though shortstop Trevor Story is in the midst of a 9-for-24 (.375) run.
“The whole chasing hits, it doesn’t work,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I think controlling the strike zone, looking for pitches in certain areas, works right. … That’s what I’m trying to get (us) to. And it hasn’t happened.”
Not only did the Red Sox tie a franchise record by striking out 20 times while going 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position, but star third baseman Rafael Devers exited early as he continues to deal with an aching right shoulder.
Devers is expected to get an MRI exam on Saturday.
“Probably, this will be it for him (this season),” Cora said.
The Red Sox will look to help right-hander Kutter Crawford (8-15, 4.19 ERA) out of more than a month-long losing streak.
Crawford is 0-6 with a 4.28 ERA over his past six starts, though he pitched at least six innings in three straight starts before a loss to the Yankees on Sunday. He allowed four runs on six hits and two walks with seven strikeouts in 4 1/3 frames at New York, serving up homers to Gleyber Torres and Aaron Judge.
“I didn’t make pitches when I needed to,” Crawford said. “Obviously, you can’t throw Judge a 92-mile-per-hour fastball right down the middle. I just didn’t do my job (on Sunday).”
The home run ball has been a backbreaker for Crawford. He has allowed five in his past three starts and a major-league-leading 33 on the season.
–Field Level Media