Editor's note: The temperature gauge is a Bill James-created statistic that measures how hot or cold hitters are. We will spotlight Red Sox and opposing team temperatures on game days.
Adrian Gonzalez went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored in Friday's 6-5 loss to the Twins, and remains the Red Sox' hottest hitter entering Game 3 of their series against the Twins on Saturday.
Over his last seven contests, Gonzalez is hitting .480 with a 1.232 OPS, though the Sox are just 4-3 in that span.
Aside from Gonzalez, there aren't too many hot hitters in the Red Sox lineup at the moment, even though Carl Crawford was 3-for-5 with a three-run home run on Friday. Boston's hitters will look to rebound on Saturday against Twins rookie Cole De Vries, who allowed five runs in five innings in his last outing against the White Sox on Monday. However, the Sox struggled against another rookie, Samuel Deduno, in the series opener on Thursday, so there's no guarantees that they'll be able to get back on track against De Vries.
Former American League MVP Justin Morneau enters Saturday as the Twins' hottest hitter, having crushed Sox pitching in the first two games of the series. Morneau is 6-for-8 in the two games, including a 4-for-4 performance on Friday in which he had two doubles and two RBIs.
Jamey Carroll was just as good on Friday, replicating Morneau's feat with a 4-for-4 performance of his own. Carroll also had the game-winning hit off Vicente Padilla in the 10th inning.
Here are the Red Sox and Twins temperatures for Saturday, Aug. 4.
Red Sox
Adrian Gonzalez 88
Cody Ross 75
Carl Crawford 73
Nick Punto 71
Ryan Lavarnway 67
Pedro Ciriaco 65
Ryan Kalish 64
Kelly Shoppach 64
Dustin Pedroia 63
Jacoby Ellsbury 59
Mike Aviles 59
Jarrod Saltalamacchia 58
Will Middlebrooks 57
Twins
Justin Morneau 96
Jamey Carroll 84
Darin Mastroianni 77
Ben Revere 76
Denard Span 69
Brian Dozier 68
Ryan Doumit 67
Drew Butera 65
Joe Mauer 65
Alexi Casilla 65
Danny Valencia 60
Josh Willingham 53
