The Boston Red Sox’s hot streak came to a screeching halt Monday in Minnesota.
The Twins hung a touchdown on the visiting Red Sox in the opening two innings and coasted the rest of the way en route to a 7-2 win in the teams’ Memorial Day matinee.
GAME IN A WORD
Brief.
Red Sox starter Joe Kelly lasted just 1 2/3 innings in the loss — the shortest start of his career — and was charged all seven Minnesota runs.
IT WAS OVER WHEN…
The Twins plated their seventh run of the afternoon before the Red Sox recorded their sixth out.
ON THE BUMP
— The Twins struck first against Kelly in the opening frame. Brian Dozier led off the game with a double, advanced to third on a groundout and scored on a sacrifice fly to center by Joe Mauer.
Kelly’s troubles only worsened in the second, as the Twins batted around and touched the Sox starter for another five runs. The first four batters in the inning recorded hits, and Trevor Plouffe capped the offensive outburst with a two-out, three-run home run.
That blast made it 7-0 Twins, and after allowing a single to the next batter, Kelly’s afternoon was over. He recorded just five outs, throwing 52 pitches, allowing eight hits and seven earned runs, walking one and striking out zero.
— Matt Barnes relieved Kelly and allowed consecutive singles to load the bases before striking out Eddie Rosario to end the inning.
The young right-hander ran into trouble in the fourth, as well, surrendering a Torii Hunter single and a Mauer double to put two men in scoring position with two down. Barnes again escaped unscathed, striking out Plouffe to retire the side.
Overall, though, Barnes was solid in what was the longest outing of his major league career. The 24-year-old UConn product tossed 3 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, allowing five hits and striking out five. It was a far cry from Barnes’ previous appearance Friday, during which he allowed four runs (two earned) and two homers in just 1/3 of an inning.
— Craig Breslow worked around two singles to pitch a scoreless sixth. Center fielder Mookie Betts nailed Kurt Suzuki at the plate for the third out.
— Tommy Layne kept the Twins off the board in the seventh, allowing one hit and striking out two.
— Heath Hembree faced the minimum in the eighth, issuing a leadoff walk but inducing a 6-4-3 double play to wipe it away.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Mike Napoli kept up his hot streak at the plate with a second-inning single. He took second on a balk by Twins starter Ricky Nolasco but was stranded there after center fielder Aaron Hicks laid out to rob Daniel Nava of a base hit and end the inning.
Napoli also singled in the ninth inning to finish 2-for-4.
— The Red Sox took a bite out of their seven-run deficit by plating two runs in the third. Blake Swihart and Dustin Pedroia led off the frame with consecutive singles. Swihart scored on an RBI groundout by David Ortiz, and Pedroia came home on a base hit by Hanley Ramirez.
It was Ramirez’s first RBI since April 29.
— From then on, Boston’s offense disappeared. Nolasco retired 15 consecutive batters following Ramirez’s single before Betts finally ended the drought with a two-out double in the eighth inning.
Twins right-hander Blaine Boyer wrapped things up with a scoreless ninth.
— Pedroia, batting leadoff for the third consecutive game, finished 2-for-4 with two singles. He, Betts (2-for-4, single, double) and Napoli were the only Red Sox players to reach base twice.
TWEET OF THE GAME
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UP NEXT
The Sox and Twins will be back at it Tuesday night, with Clay Buchholz going up against Mike Pelfrey.
Thumbnail photo via Marilyn Indahl/USA TODAY Sports Images
