Twins rally for 2nd straight road win behind Harrison Bader’s tiebreaking double; beat Red Sox 5-4
BOSTON, Mass. — Harrison Bader delivered a clutch, go-ahead double off the Green Monster in the eighth inning, helping the Minnesota Twins edge out the Boston Red Sox 5-4 on Sunday and clinch the weekend series at Fenway Park.
Byron Buxton got the Twins off to a quick start by launching a home run on the very first pitch from Boston starter Garrett Crochet. The win marked only the second time this season that Minnesota has notched back-to-back road victories.
The game saw a tense moment in the third inning when a sharp line drive from Carlos Correa deflected off Crochet’s glove and struck him in the nose before rolling to second base for a groundout. Despite appearing to have a trickle of blood, Crochet remained in the game and pitched five solid innings, allowing one run and striking out six.
Bader’s eighth-inning double came off reliever Justin Slaten (0-3) and set up Trevor Larnach’s RBI single that gave the Twins the lead. Louis Varland (2-3) threw a scoreless inning of relief, and Jhoan Duran closed things out in the ninth for his fourth save—and second in as many days.
The Red Sox had built an early 3-1 lead behind Carlos Narváez’s two-run single in the second and Romy Gonzalez’s sacrifice fly in the third. But the Twins tied it in the seventh on a two-run single from Ryan Jeffers. Boston briefly regained the lead in the bottom of the eighth on a solo home run by Wilyer Abreu before Minnesota rallied once more.
The Twins also won Saturday’s matchup, highlighted by Kody Clemens’ two-run homer in his first career game at Fenway, with his father, former Red Sox great Roger Clemens, watching from the stands.
With the win, Minnesota improved to 6-14 on the road.
Up Next:
- Twins: After a day off Monday, RHP Pablo López (2-2, 2.25 ERA) will start Tuesday against Orioles LHP Cade Povich (1-2, 5.16 ERA) at Target Field.
- Red Sox: Also off Monday, Boston sends RHP Lucas Giolito (0-0, 4.50 ERA) to the mound Tuesday to face Rangers RHP Nathan Eovaldi (2-3, 2.11 ERA) at Fenway Park.
