On Tuesday, former Twins reliever Hansel Robles locked down his 11th save of the season in an 11-9 Red Sox win. On Wednesday, the Twins made sure that didn’t happen again.
The Red Sox forced extra innings after they rallied to tie the game at 4-4. But in the top of the 10th, the Twins scored five runs off Robles, getting a two-run home run from Josh Donaldson, followed by a rare three-run blast from Jake Cave to down Boston, 9-6.
The Twins go for the series win Thursday.
In all, the Twins hit four home runs off Boston pitching, including what was apparently the longest home run of the season in major league baseball. In the third inning, the Twins’ Miguel Sano teed off on pitcher, Nick Pivetta, hitting a 495-foot blast that left Fenway Park by quite a margin. In fact, it appeared to clear one of the billboards ON TOP of the Green Monster.
Also hitting a home run, Jorge Polanco, the hottest hitter on the team. Polanco leads the team in batting average, runs, home runs and runs batted in.
John Gant gets the ball Thursday against lefty Chris Sale, who is making only his third start for Boston since 2019.
Extra innings…
-I can’t mention Wednesday’s win without mentioning Twins starter Bailey Ober. Ober looked totally in control, pitching five shutout innings with seven strikeouts.
-After starting the season 0-8 in extra-inning games, the Twins are now 11-10.
-The Twins snapped a four-game losing streak on Wednesday. Be thankful for four-game losing streaks, Twins fans, because the woeful, Baltimore Orioles, finally brought their stomach-churning 19-game losing odyssey to an end, beating the Los Angeles Angels, 10-6, on Wednesday. I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: It is hard to watch and see what the Orioles have become after they were one of the great franchises of all time in the 1960s and 1970s. Jim Palmer and other Oriole greats must really be shaking their heads at poor Birdland. The Orioles are now 39-86 on the season. Wow.
-Here’s an interesting one: On Aug. 25, 1970, Twins and Red Sox met at The Met in a game that was delayed by a bomb scare for 43 minutes, according to Baseball-Reference.com. In the end, Boston slugger Tony Conigliaro connected for an eighth inning home run to give the Red Sox a 1-0 win.