May 14, 2014; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Boston Red Sox designated hitter
David Ortiz(34) hits a double in the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jesse Johnson-USA TODAY Sports
After a tough come-from-behind-but-not-quite-enough loss to the Twins last night in Target Field, the Sox got on the scoreboard early and often.
In the top of the first Shane Victorino scored on a ground out by Mike Napoli. Grady Sizemore contributed a double which scored David Ortiz, who had doubled. Felix Doubront got a quick two outs in the bottom of the first but a double by Trevor Plouffe kept his inning from being perfect. Plouffe made it to third on a passed ball by A.J. Pierzynski, but was left there when Doubront struck out the next batter.
With two outs in the third, Ortiz hit his 10th home run of the year, his third in Target Field this season, and his 383rd career HR which puts him past Jim Rice for the most home runs in the Sox uniform. Napoli doubled and scored on Sizemore’s single to put the Sox up 4-0. In the fourth, Xander Bogaerts hit his second double of the night and scored when Will Middlebrooks singled.
Doubront had been cool as a cucumber in the the second inning, getting all three batters to pop out. But Felix started the third inning by loading the bases with no outs. Joe Mauer‘s sacrifice fly got the Twins on the board, but no more damage was done. Felix flirted with disaster in the fourth when he started the inning with back-to-back singles, but settled down and got out of the inning safely to keep the score 5-1.
Ortiz continued his dominance of the Twins and hit another home run in the fifth inning. In the sixth, Dustin Pedroia added a run when he racked up his 13th RBI of the season, bringing the Sox to a 7-1 lead.
Felix caught fire and had 1-2-3 innings in the fifth and the sixth. After starting the seventh with a single, a strike out, and another single, Doubront’s night was over. He finished the game with 6.1 innings pitched, 7 hits, 1 run, and 5 Ks.
Burke Badenhop was brought in to finish the seventh. After walking his first batter to load the bases, he luckily got Mauer to ground into a double play. Badenhop was also given the ball for the eighth inning in which he gave up a walk to Chris Parmelee, who moved to third on Badenhop’s own error. Eduardo Nunez‘s single changed the score to 7-2.
In the top of the ninth the Sox added a few more insurance runs when A.J.’s single scored Jonathan Herrera (pinch running for Pedroia, who had walked) and Mike Carp to make the score 9-2.
The Twins did not go quietly. Plouffe hit a two-run homer off Edward Mujica. But the threat was over quickly and the final score was 9-4.
The Sox take on the Twins again tomorrow at 1:10pm with Clay Buchholz taking the mound against Phil Hughes.