As the old saying goes: It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish.
The Boston Red Sox didn’t get off to the best start Saturday night at Fenway Park, as they faced an early 4-1 deficit at the hands of the Minnesota Twins. But the home nine didn’t waiver, and the bats came alive en route to a 10-4 victory.
The Sox didn’t receive a stellar outing from Rick Porcello, but the right-hander did enough to put his team in position to win. The right-hander allowed four runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings before giving way to the bullpen, which was nearly flawless in relief.
With the win, the Red Sox improve to 73-33, while the Twins fall to 48-55.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Collective.
It was a total group effort from the Red Sox, who received a solid outing from their starter, a great performance from the bullpen and 14 total hits.
ON THE BUMP
— After a sharp 1-2-3 first inning, Porcello ran into some trouble in the ensuing frames.
Logan Morrison put the Twins on the board in the second inning with a solo blast that managed to stay inside the right field foul pole.
Minnesota did more damage to the scoreboard in the third thanks to some two-out magic. After Jake Cave and Joe Mauer reached base with singles, Jorge Polanco gave the Twins a 3-1 lead with a two-run triple.
Polanco crossed the plate one batter later thanks to a Brian Dozier RBI single that made it 4-1 in favor of the visiting team.
From there, Porcello settled down, tossing a scoreless fourth inning before posting a 1-2-3 fifth. The right-hander got the first two outs of the sixth frame, but with his pitch count at 100, manager Alex Cora decided to pull his starter.
— Heath Hembree recorded the final out of the sixth. The right-hander stayed on for seventh and allowed one single in a scoreless inning.
— Tyler Thornburg tossed a perfect eighth inning in which he only threw 12 pitches.
— Joe Kelly turned in a clean ninth inning to lock down the win.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox got the bats going early. After Andrew Benintendi and J.D. Martinez smacked back-to-back singles in the first inning, Mitch Moreland plated Boston’s first run of the contest with an RBI base knock.
— After the Twins posted a three-run third inning, the Sox followed suit in the fourth. Rafael Devers kicked things off with a one-out double, followed by an Eduardo Nunez walk. With two runners on, Jackie Bradley Jr. brought his team within one with a two-RBI triple. JBJ was brought home one batter later via a Mookie Betts RBI double.
— Boston rode the momentum into the fifth inning when Martinez parked his 32nd home run of the season to give the home team a 5-4 lead.
— The Sox kept it rolling in the sixth. Sandy Leon led off the inning with a double before Bradley reached base on a walk. Benintendi provided some insurance two batters later with an RBI single to make it 6-4.
— Boston tacked on some more in the eighth. Bradley led off the inning with a walk and promptly was plated by a Betts RBI double. It got much uglier for the Twins from there, as the Red Sox scored their eighth run courtesy of a Devers bases-loaded walk before Nunez stroked a two-RBI double to make it 10-4.
— Each Red Sox starter recorded at least one hit in the game. Betts, Benintendi, Martinez, Devers and Nunez all posted multi-hit performances.
TWEET OF THE DAY
A powerful scene at Fenway Park.
UP NEXT
The two teams will square off in the series finale Sunday afternoon. Nathan Eovaldi is set to make his Red Sox debut opposite 2018 All-Star Jose Berrios. First pitch from Fenway Park is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET.
