Miscues have been a trend for the Red Sox, but on Wednesday, Boston took advantage of a Minnesota Twins mistake to take an early lead at Target Field.
The third inning started out strong for the Red Sox. Kevin Plawecki and Tommy Pham got on base with singles, and Alex Verdugo hit a grounder to Jose Miranda. The Twins first baseman opted to not go for an out and instead tried to prevent Plawecki from scoring, but the Red Sox catcher made it back to third, and Boston loaded up the bases with no outs.
Minnesota starting pitcher Joe Ryan laid out a breaking ball over the middle of the plate for Xander Bogaerts to launch a grand slam to left field. It was Bogaerts’ sixth grand slam of his career and was the second seen in as many days with Nick Gordon hitting a grand slam for the Twins.
Not to be out done by his Red Sox teammate, designated hitter J.D. Martinez hit a solo dinger himself to put Boston ahead 5-0 in the top of the third inning. The homer was his second of the week as he hit a home run against the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday amid concerns over his power at the plate.
The home runs traveled 392 and 394 feet, respectively, and it showed Boston’s offense can be one to reckon with on any night.
