Red Sox 10, Twins 4: The Post-Escobar Era

You might want to say your goodbyes now.

With two longtime Twins out the door, more may well be on the way. Another defeat to the Boston Red Sox brings Minnesota’s record down to 48-55, as the Twinkies dropped the third game of the series by a 10-4 final.

Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images

Starter Jake Odorizzi got the Boston bats off to a hot start in the first, allowing four singles but escaping with just one run allowed. He settled down and followed that up with two perfect innings, which allowed Minnesota to score four unanswered runs. Logan Morrison homered (13) to tie the game in the second, and Jorge Polanco brought it on down to Polancoville with a two-run triple to center in the third. Dozier singled in Polanco, and it was a four-run lead.

Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images

The four-run lead evaporated quickly. In the bottom of the fourth, with two outs and two men on, noted thorn-in-the-side Jackie Bradley Jr. had a two-run triple of his own, bringing Boston to within one. Mookie Betts doubled down the left field line to bring Bradley home, and the score was once again knotted up.

J.D. Martinez launched a solo shot, his 32nd of the year, to give the Red Sox a one-run lead in the fifth. It would be Odorizzi’s last inning, as with a climbing pitch count, he finished the game with five full innings, giving up five earned runs on nine hits.

If you’ll recall from his other appearances this season, Gabriel Moya has not been all that good.

Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images

Nonetheless, he was the first man out of the bullpen tonight, and his outing...wasn’t stellar. His first pitch was a double off the bat of Sandy Leon, and his next batter received a free pass to first. After striking out Betts, a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, and Leon scored on a Benintendi single.

That would be all for Moya, who required 19 pitches to record one out and allow three baserunners. In his stead came Matt Magill, who fanned J.D. Martinez and Mitch Moreland to end the inning.

But the hungry Red Sox were ready to feast on the bullpen. Magill gave up an RBI double to Betts in the eighth, and Taylor Rogers walked Rafael Devers with the sacks full later in the inning. Eduardo Nunez capped it off with a two-run double, and extended the Bostonian lead to six, as the inning ended with our final score of 10-4.

Despite two runners reaching in the ninth, the Twins could muster no more offense, and the Sox sealed the deal.

Winning Pitcher: Rick Porcello (13-4, 4.03)

Losing Pitcher: Jake Odorizzi (4-7, 4.58)

Studs:

1B Joe Mauer (2-for-4, R)

SS Jorge Polanco (1-for-4, R, 2 RBI, 3B)

Duds:

LF Eddie Rosario (0-for-4)

3B Miguel Sano (0-for-4, 3 K)

RF Robbie Grossman (0-for-4, 2 K)

Photo by Omar Rawlings/Getty Images

Notes

I already touched on Moya’s latest appearance, but we should also talk about the return of Miguel Sano. Batting sixth and playing third base tonight, Sano grounded out in the first, then struck out three times (twice swinging, once looking.) Not a great look, especially as his return to the team seems more out of necessity than proven growth — though maybe there’s more going on there than we know about.

Two time zones west, Eduardo Escobar made his debut for the Arizona Diamondbacks tonight. At the time of writing, Double-E has singled, walked, and scored. The D-Backs are 57-48 and currently hold the second NL Wild Card.

Photo by Ron Schwane/Getty Images

ROBOT ROLL CALL!

Comment of the Gamethread:

“Is there really no one else we can have comment other than Joel Hernandez” - Joel Hernandez

Have a good night, and see you tomorrow for the finale, as the Twins try to salvage a series split.