Remind Me Again Why Franklin Morales Isn't In The Red Sox Rotation Full-Time?

Never fear folks, Franklin Morales (3-2) won't let the Red Sox get swept by the lowly Twins in the worst series so far of the neverending 2012 season.

He went six superb innings (1 run, 3 hits, 4 strikeouts, 3 walks) in his first start since July 13 as Boston (54-55, 28-32 home) held on for a 6-4 win vs. Minnesota (47-61, 24-29 away) this afternoon at Fenway Park. The Red Sox snapped a four-game losing streak overall and they had lost the first three games to the Twins.

Vicente Padilla did his best Alfredo Aceves impression from Saturday's night's debacle as he allowed a solo homer to Josh Willingham (28th of the season) and a two-run bomb to Ryan Doumit (11th of the season) in the ninth that made a 6-1 game 6-4 in the blink of an eye. Luckily, Aceves shook off his struggles to get a 1-2-3 ninth (on 9 pitches) for his 23rd save of the season. That ability to bounce back sums up his main talent-he's fearless and incredibly durable.

Birthday boy Carl Crawford (who turned 31 on Sunday) had a solid performance, going 3-for-5 with two runs, an RBI and a stolen base. Best of all for the impatient Crawford, he saw a team-high 22 pitches. Adrian Gonzalez (3 RBIs, run, walk), Cody Ross, Will Middlebrooks (stolen base) and Mike Aviles (run, walk) all had two hits in the win as Boston outhit Minnesota 14-6.

The Red Sox scored twice in the third on Crawford's groundout and Gonzalez's RBI single. Ben Revere (hit, stolen base, 19-game hitting streak, 1 incredible over-the-shoulder catch) got the Twins on the board with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, cutting it to 2-1.

Gonzalez hit a two-run homer (his 11th of the season) over the Monster in the fifth, Ross had a run-scoring single in the seventh and Jacoby Ellsbury tacked on a sacrifice fly in the eighth. Is it too soon to lock up Ross with a multi-year deal before he becomes a free agent this winter? He's earned that pay day.

Things are about to get real at Fenway as the American League's best team-tied with the Yankees-comes to town. The Texas Rangers (63-44, 1st in AL West) play the Red Sox three times to end Boston's longest homestand (10 games) of 2012. The Red Sox lost two of three in the Lonestar State two weeks ago and looking at the pitching matchups, I fully expect a sweep by the two-time defending AL champions.

Aaron Cook (2-5) faces Yu Darvish (11-7) tomorrow night (7:10 p.m., NESN), Jon Lester (5-9) gets new Ranger Ryan Dempster (5-5) on Tuesday night (7:10 p.m., NESN) then the Texas Toughguy (5-9) is scheduled to oppose Matt Harrison (13-6) on Wednesday afternoon (1:35 p.m., NESN) if his bad back and fat ass will allow it.

In other Twins-Red Sox news, the teams made a minor trade this afternoon as Minnesota dealt third baseman Danny Valencia to Boston for Single A outfielder Jeremias Pineda. Valencia had a promising rookie season in 2010 (7 homers, 40 RBIs, .311 batting average in 85 games) and reasonably productive 2011 (15 homers, 72 RBIs in 154 games) but he fell off the map this season (.198 in 34 games). He will report to Pawtucket and look for him to get called up September 1 when the rosters expand.

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Red Sox Snap A 5-Game Losing Streak With Come-From-Behind Win In Minnesota

Well for one night at least, we don't have to bitch and complain about the Red Sox. Joy!

Boston (5-10, 2-5 away) began a seven-game road trip by winning 6-5 tonight against Minnesota (5-12, 2-5 home) at Target Field.

Cody Ross (3 RBIs) slugged two home runs, Daniel Bard (1-2) was successful in his first appearance out of the bullpen (2 key outs) and Alfredo Aceves nailed down his third save of the season to help the Red Sox snap an ugly five-game losing streak.

Jon Lester had his second straight bad start in a row although this one was nothing compared to the disaster against the Rangers last week. He was up 3-0 and cruising in the fourth when Ryan Doumit (2 hits) hit a two-run double to left then the immortal Danny Valenica (1st of the season) cranked a two-run bomb to left center.

Lester was up to 105 pitches entering the seventh so I had no idea why he was still in when it was tied 5-5 but the head-scratching move turned out fine. He got a 1-2-3 frame and his outing was complete with seven full innings of five earned runs on six hits with four strikeouts and four walks.

In the first, Adrian Gonzalez gave Boston a 1-0 lead with his third sacrifice fly of the season, driving in Mike Aviles. In the third, Jarrod Saltlamacchia (2 runs, 2 hits) reached down and golfed a two-run shot (his 2nd of the season) to left off Jason Marquis.

The Twins scored their other run in the fifth when Jamey Carroll grounded into a double play. That ended up being a turning point since Minnesota had runners on first and third with no outs. The best part of Lester's uneven performance was that he forced three double plays.

It was only a matter of time before the Red Sox found a way to score some more runs against Marquis (6.1 innings, 5 earned runs, 11 hits, 3 strikeouts), a journeyman starting pitcher. It turned out that Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire-one of the best in MLB-gave them an assist by leaving him in too long. He served up a two-run homer by Ross into the upper deck in left in the seventh which tied it at five.

After Carroll's single turned into a triple on a throwing error by Ryan Sweeney (2 hits), Franklin Morales retired Joe Mauer (2 hits) for the first out of the eighth. That's when Bard was summoned. No pressure. He responded by getting Josh Willingham to line out. Justin Morneau was intentionally walked (great decision) and he was able to get Doumit to pop out to end the threat.

Ross added a solo shot, his fifth of the season, in the ninth against Twins closer Matt Capps (0-1), in a non-save situation. Ross is a dead pull hitter but he hit that the opposite way, over the right field fence.

Some Red Sox writers thought Bard would start the ninth but Bobby Valentine stuck with his embattled closer. It paid off as Aceves worked around a single for the save. There was one dicey moment as Trevor Plouffe's fly ball appeared to have the distance to get out off the bat but thankfully it died on the warning track.

Dustin Pedroia and David Ortiz also had two hits each for the Red Sox.

Boston will look to get another winning streak started tomorrow night as Josh Beckett (1-2) faces Nick Blackburn (0-1) at 8:10 p.m. on NESN.

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