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| Red Sox, Lowrie power past Twins BOSTON 5, MINNESOTA 2 |
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By Anthony Maggio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - The Boston Red Sox hit a season-high four home runs - all solo blasts - and Jonathan Papelbon shut the door after two consecutive blown saves to beat the Minnesota Twins, 5-2, on Saturday at the Metrodome. Kevin Youkilis homered in the second inning, Coco Crisp and Jed Lowrie connected in back-to-back at-bats to lead off the seventh inning and Mike Lowell hit Boston's fourth home run of the night in the eighth inning. Daisuke Matsuzaka (6-0) allowed two runs on six hits and three walks with seven strikeouts in seven innings to help the Red Sox win for the seventh time in their last nine games and even the four-game series with the Twins at one apiece. Papelbon, who gave up two runs in each of his last two outings including on Friday night in the first game of this series, pitched around a two-out single to Mike Lamb that ricocheted off speaker wires beneath the Dome's roof for his 11th save in 13 tries. Glen Perkins (0-1) made his first career start for the Twins after being recalled from Class AAA Rochester on Friday and gave up three of the four home runs. He allowed three runs on nine hits in six-plus innings with three strikeouts but was saddled with the loss in his first major league decision. Although he was a starter in the minors, Perkins pitched 34 1/3 innings of relief the last two seasons in brief major league stints. The lefthander allowed Youkilis' solo home run with one out in the second inning, but managed to pitch out of a few jams before the seventh inning. The Red Sox put two runners in scoring position in the fourth inning, a runner on third in the fifth frame, and another on second base in the sixth without getting any of them across. But Crisp and Lowrie, two players prominently mentioned during trade talks with Minnesota this offseason for Johan Santana, connected off Perkins to lead off the seventh inning and reverse a one-run deficit - ending Perkins' night in the process. Crisp's homer was his first since September 6, 2007 at Baltimore, while Lowrie's was his first as a major leaguer. The two shots marked the second time Boston has gone back-to-back this season. Lowell pushed the lead to two with his shot off Brian Bass in the eighth inning, and Dustin Pedroia's RBI single scored Lowrie in the ninth. Matsuzaka nearly let the Twins open up a big lead early in the game, but managed to pitch out of a second-inning mess. The righthander walked Michael Cuddyer to lead off the frame, and after recording an out gave up consecutive singles to Delmon Young and Lamb to load the bases. Matsuzaka struck out Adam Everett before walking in a run against Carlos Gomez. Matt Tolbert followed with a hard line drive right at Youkilis at first base to leave the bases loaded. Tolbert doubled to lead off the fifth inning and scored two batters later on Justin Morneau's RBI single, but Matsuzaka retired the final seven batters he faced. Hideki Okajima retired the side in order in the eighth and Papelbon closed the door in the ninth. Lowrie had his first career three-hit game, scored twice and drove in a run for the Red Sox. Lamb (three singles) was the only Twin with multiple hits as Minnesota saw its eight-game home winning streak come to an end. |
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