Just like the 16-inning game in Tampa Bay three weeks ago didn't seem to affect the Boston Red Sox too much (as they pummeled the Orioles the next night), they pushed on through their fatigue again tonight with a 8-6 win at Target Field over the Minnesota Twins.
For the second game in a row, the Red Sox (71-43) rallied for a win. This one lacked the Hall of Fame closer (Mariano Rivera) but Boston trailed 5-1 before tying it in the sixth.
For the third straight time, Tim Wakefield sat on the brink of 200 career wins going into a start and he couldn't get it done. Terry Francona left Wake in as long as he could handle tonight, in an attempt to get that mark out of the way. He went seven innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits with no walks and four strikeouts.
Twins (51-64) starter Scott Baker's performance was about as uneven as his team's this entire season. For once, I think you can stick a fork in Minnesota in August. The injuries have been too much to overcome. Baker couldn't protect the 5-1 lead; in six innings, he allowed five earned runs on nine hits with no walks and five strikeouts.
David Ortiz and Jarrod Saltalamacchia-hitting fifth and sixth with Kevin Youkilis having the night off-provided the power with a combined four runs, six hits and five RBIs. Ortiz had four hits (a triple shy of the cycle), three runs and three RBIs. Saltalamacchia had two hits, two RBIs and a run.
Big Papi's three-run homer (22nd of the season) in the sixth cut it to 5-4 while Salty tied it up with a solo shot of his own (11th of the season).
Marco Scutaro put together probably the best two-game stretch of his life with three more hits and an RBI (after four hits on Sunday night). Scutaro's RBI single in the second scored Ortiz and gave Boston a 1-0 lead.
Minnesota put up three runs of their own in the second. Jason Kubel (3 hits, 2 runs, 2 RBIs) had an RBI single, Jim Thome had an RBI double and Thome came around on Salty's passed ball.
This one seemed to get away as Kubel hit a solo homer in the fourth and Joe Mauer made it 5-1 with an RBI double in the fifth.
Adrian Gonzalez (2 hits) got the Red Sox rally started in the sixth with a sacrifice fly which scored Carl Crawford-hitting second for one night.
Ortiz scored the go-ahead run in the eighth on an error by Mauer. The All-World catcher dropped a routine throw at the plate, Papi would have been out by a good distance.
Kubel took away the possibility of a win for Wakefield with another RBI single in the eighth off Alfredo Aceves (8-1) but Ortiz (RBI double) and Saltalamacchia (RBI single) got to Twins closer Joe Nathan in the ninth when he came on in a 6-6 game to start the frame.
Dustin Pedroia added two hits and two runs while Jed Lowrie had a hit in his return from the DL (shoulder injury). In total, the Red Sox pounded 17 hits and yet this game was exactly three hours long, go figure.
Trevor Plouffe had two hits and two runs for the Twins while Matt Tolbert notched two hits in the loss as well.
Aceves got out of the eighth allowing just the one run and he ended up snaking away another win (22-2 career record). Jonathan Papelbon got a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his 25th save of the season.
A pair of lefties go tomorrow night as Erik Bedard makes his second start for Boston against Minnesota's Francisco Liriano (who is either great or terrible, nothing in between).
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