Series Recap: Twins win 2, lose 1 against Boston

(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

After taking 2 of 3 in Toronto, Minnesota flew back to the Twin Cities to start a 6 game homestand. The Twins returned to Target Field as the hottest team in the American League and bested the Red Sox, winning their 3rd consecutive series. Let’s review what worked for the Twins, including Byron Buxton’s historic milestone.

Game One: Twins Win 13-6

W: Bailey Ober | L: Garrett Crochet

Player of the Game: Ryan Jeffers

Bailey Ober made his way to the hill for the 4th time this season on Monday night, this time against 2020 first-round pick Garrett Crochet. The Twins pitcher sent Boston down in order to start the ball game, sending his teammates to the plate in the bottom of the 1st inning. After a Byron Buxton leadoff out, Austin Martin started the Twins day with a double to left field. In the next at-bat he scored off of an identical knock from Luke Keaschall (1-0). Ryan Jeffers then stepped in, putting another ball out in front of Jarren Duran, this time for an RBI single to score Keaschall (2-0). After getting Josh Bell to fly ourt, Crochet lost control of his pitches, walking Victor Caratini and hitting Matt Wallner to load the bases. In came the red-hot Brooks Lee, who grounded a ball over to shortstop Trevor Story. Story attempted to make a glove throw for the force out at second, but missed badly. The error scored two runs for Minnesota and extended Lee’s RBI streak to 5 consecutive games (4-0). Ober only faced 4 batters in the top of the 2nd inning with the lone base runner coming on a Wilson Abreu walk. The Twins first 3 batters of the 2nd inning reached with a single from Byron Buxton and walks from Austin Martin and Luke Kaschall. Jeffers entered the right handed batters box yet again. This time, the Minnesota catcher fired the ball on the ground into left field to score Buxton (5-0). Josh Bell then came in for his 2nd at-bat of the day and smashed a ball off the video board wall in right-center field, two more Twins came around to score and Minnesota was rolling (7-0). Victor Caratini then made his way to the dish and rocketed a ball to the second deck in left field for his first home run as a Twin (10-0). Crochet was then able to record the first two outs of the inning sending Wallner and Lee to the dugout on back to back plate appearances. But, the Twins still had one more highlight left in them. Ryan Kreidler, who was called up from Saint Paul during the Twins trip to Toronto recorded his first hit and home run as a member of Minnesota in just one swing, going yard to the same spot as Caratini (11-0). The Red Sox scraped back 3 runs in the 3rd inning, including a Duran home run (11-3). The Twins did not score in the 3rd or 4th innings before adding their final 2 runs in the 5th. First, Byron Buxton became the deep ball king of Target Field, hitting his 85th career home run in the Twins ballpark (12-3). Then, Jeffers added to his impressive offensive day with a dinger of his own (13-3). The Red Sox added runs in the 6th and 7th but would not come close to a comeback (13-6).

Ryan Jeffers gets well-deserved player of the game recognition for his efforts in game one. The Twins field general had 3 hits in 4 at-bats with a walk and 3 RBI’s. 

Game Two: Twins Win 6-0

W: Mick Abel | L: Sonny Gray

Player of the Game: Byron Buxton

Former Twin Sonny Gray returned to the hill at Target Field against young starter Mick Abel in game 2. The Twins started quick in the bottom of the 1st with Luke Keaschall hitting Byron Buxton home for the first run of the ball game (1-0). Buxton was initially called out at the plate, but Minnesota challenged and won- counting the run. Byron Buxton made his way back to the dish in the 3rd with no runners on and launched a ball to the home run porch in left field (2-0). In the bottom of the 4th, Brooks Lee kept his hot season going with a solo shot of his own (3-0). The Twins added another 2 runs in that inning off of a Trevor Larnach single that scored Buxton and Tristan Gray (5-0). The final Twins run came in the 6th inning when Buxton went deep yet again, this time hitting the wall in the back of the bullpen (6-0). Abel pitched 7.0 innings, allowing no runs on 4 hits and no walks. He was relieved by Rogers and Sands from the Twins arm barn. 

Buxton is the clear cut player of the game from Tuesday night. His 2 home runs highlighted Minnesota’s offensive play, accounting for 33% of the Twins’ runs scored.

Game Three: Red Sox Win 9-5

W: Connelly Early | L: Simeon Woods-Richardson

After 2 straight over the Red Sox, Minnesota trotted Simeon Woods-Richardson out for the 4th time this season, this time taking on Connelly Early. The Twins snagged the first run of the ballgame for the third time in the series, this time coming from a 1st inning Austin Martin solo home run (1-0). Unfortunately, this would be Minnesota’s only run to score until the final inning. Boston notched 5 runs in the 3rd, primarily off of a Trevor Story 3-run shot (1-5). They then added 4 more in the 6th and 7th combined to cap their offensive day (1-9). The Twins were able to get 4 runs back in the 9th from a Brooks Lee RBI single and Ryan Kriedler’s second homer of the series, sending 3 more across (5-9). Woods-Richardson exited the game after 5 innings pitched with 6 earned runs off of 10 hits. Anthony Banda also allowed 2 earned runs in 2 innings pitched. Topa, Funderburk, and Orze each pitched an inning without allowing a Boston run. 

Wrapping up the Series

Minnesota wins its 4th consecutive series and have won 8 of their last 10 ball games. The team sits at 1st in both the Central and the American League. They are tied with the Arizona Diamondbacks for 7th in Major League Baseball. The Twins host the Reds for a 3 game series starting Friday night before heading on a road trip to New York to take on the Mets and Seattle to face off with the Mariners

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