An inexperienced battery of rookie pitcher Connor Prielipp and new catcher Alex Jackson put the Twins in an early hole, but the offense flexed its muscles and the bullpen stepped up for an eventual 8-6 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday.
The Game 1 win was the first of a 10-game road trip that takes the Twins to Beantown, the South Side and Pittsburgh.
It was back and forth from the get-go.
The Red Sox scored four runs in the 1st inning, while the Twins responded with three of their own in the 2nd inning. From there, the Sox took a 6-3 lead before the Twins countered to make it 7-6 and finally 8-6 after Trevor Larnach was walked with the bases loaded.
Byron Buxton hit his 16th blast of the year, Austin Martin cracked his second home run and Ryan Kreidler had the other extra-base hit. Luke Keaschall also had two hits in the 10-hit attack.
Although Prielipp struggled, four members of the bullpen delivered five scoreless innings of relief. Travis Adams, who fanned three across two innings picked up the win, and Anthony Banda locked down the save, his first. The Twins’ spit and baling wire bullpen has 12 saves spread among 10 different closers.
Taj Bradley is back. He gets the ball Saturday.
Extra innings…
–The Twins are hanging around near the top of the AL Central Division with their 24-27 record.
–Twins pitching was sensational on Wednesday in the team’s series-winning 4-1 victory over the Houston Astros. Joe Ryan, Yoendrys Gomez and Andrew Morris combined to strike out 15 batters in that game.
–Prielipp’s line from Friday: Six runs allowed (five earned) on seven hits across four innings with three walks and one whiff on 85 pitches.
–Rookie prospect Gabriel Gonzalez, who came to the Twins in the deal that sent Jorge Polanco to the M’s, was called up for Friday’s game in place of Tristan Gray who has been placed on the paternity list. Gabe picked up his first major league hit. He also scored a run and walked twice.