BOSTON 9, MINNESOTA 1 IN BOSTON
Batting star: Corey Koskie was 2-for-4.
Pitching star: Rick Reed pitched 3.1 innings, giving up one run on five hits and a walk and striking out one.
Opposition stars: Pedro Martinez struck out twelve in a complete game, giving up one run on five hits and no walks. He threw 108 pitches. David Ortiz was 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, and three RBIs. Trot Nixon was 2-for-3 with two RBIs. Todd Walker was 2-for-4 with a walk. Kevin Millar was 2-for-4. Nomar Garciaparra was 2-for-5.
The game: It was close for a while. The Red Sox started the scoring in the second when Manny Ramirez singled, went to third on an Ortiz double, and scored on a sacrifice fly. They threatened in the third, but the threat came up empty when Johnny Damon was thrown out trying to score from second on a single.
The Twins tied it in the fourth when Cristian Guzman led off with a ground-rule double and scored on Koskie's single. Boston went back in front in the fifth when Jason Varitek led off with a single, stole second, and scored on Walker's single.
The Red Sox blew it open in the sixth. Ortiz walked, Millar singled, and Nixon had an RBI single. An error loaded the bases. A ground out brought home one run and a sacrifice fly scored another, making it 5-1. Walker singled to put men on first and third, an error brought home a run, and Ramirez walked to load the bases again. Ortiz then delivered a three-run double to make the score 9-1.
The Twins did not threaten to get back into the game, and 9-1 was the final score.
WP: Martinez (3-1). LP: Tony Fiore (1-1). S: None.
Notes: LeCroy was again behind the plate. A. J. Pierzynski missed a few games, presumably with a minor injury. Todd Sears was again at first base--Doug Mientkiewicz was also presumably dealing with a minor injury. Kielty was again the DH.
Michael Cuddyer went to right field in the eighth inning. Dustan Mohr went from right to center and Torii Hunter came out of the game.
Jones was 0-for-4 and was batting .306. Kielty was 0-for-3 and was batting .304.
Mohr was 1-for-3 and raised his average to .188.
Reed also presumably was dealing with an injury--he came out of the game after just 3.1 innings. He would not pitch again until May 14. His ERA was 5.87. Fiore came in and pitched well until the sixth, but his line is 2.1 innings, six runs (three earned), six hits, one walk, and one strikeout. His ERA was 6.50.
Juan Rincon pitched the final 2.1 innings, giving up two unearned runs on two hits and a walk, making his ERA 1.46.
Jason Varitek stole two bases, his first two stolen bases of the season. He would steal only one more base the rest of the season. He had just 25 stolen bases in his career. Oddly, ten of them came in one season, 2004, when he was 10-for-13 in steals. He would steal only four more bases the rest of his career. For his career he was 25-for-43.
The loss snapped the Twins' four-game winning streak. It also thwarted their attempt to get back over .500.
Record: The Twins were 14-15, in third place in the American League Central, five games behind Kansas City. They remained a half game behind second-place Chicago.