By Zachary McMahon –
The Boston Red Sox played the series finale of their series against the Minnesota Twins on Sunday afternoon at Target Field in Minneapolis. The Twins took the first two in the series as they came into the matchup winning 12 straight, which was the longest win streak for the Twins since 1991, when they wom 15 games in a row.
Cooper Criswell started on the bump for the Sox, while Joe Ryan went for the Twins. Criswell went 4 ⅓ innings allowing five hits, one run, one walk, and struck out five. He was replaced by Brennan Bernardino in the fifth inning with one out, and would finish the inning. Bernadino would get his first victory of the season after the Sox broke a tie in the 6th inning, and would never lose the lead.
Rafael Devers played as the designated hitter for the contest, while Zach Short started over at third base. Dominic Smith started at first base, and Vaughn Grissom is back at second base after getting the game off on Saturday.
The Twins struck first with a solo home run by Ryan Jeffers in the third inning, as he hit his sixth of the season.
In the fourth, Rob Refsnyder, who played out in left field for most of the game, hit an RBI double that scored Jarren Duran home.
Ceddane Rafaela hit the Red Sox’s first home in seven games with a two-run shot to left center that also included Reese McGwire as he got the Sox the 3-1 lead.
Then the Sox opened the floodgates in the eighth and ninth innings as they scored six runs, which started with Grissom hitting a RBI double with bases loaded that scored Devers and Tyler O’Neil (who pinch hit for David Hamilton as the three-hole hitter earlier in the inning).
Hamilton went in on defense at shortstop in the fifth inning, ending the series in the very stadium where he made his MLB debut last Summer.
Then later in the eighth, Smith had a two-run double that scored Grissom and Wilyer Abreu to extend the Sox’s lead to 7-1.
Twins designated hitter Trevior Larnach hit a solo homer off Josh Winckowski in the bottom of the eighth.
Winckowski made his first appearance as a reliever since April 16, as he has been in the starting rotation due to injuries to Brayan Bello, Garrett Whitlock, and Nick Pivetta. It is looking like Winckowski is back as a bullpen arm as the Sox look to activate Pivetta for Wednesday’s game against the Atlanta Braves.
The onslaught in the final two innings ended with a two-run blast by Devers that also scored Duran home for his second run of the game as the Sox would go on to a 9-2 win.
They snapped a three-game losing streak and the Twins’s 12-game winning streak, as they move on to their day off on Monday as they get ready for a two-game series against the Braves in Atlanta, which starts on Tuesday with Kutter Crawford due to start against Reynaldo Lopez. .