Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner each had RBI singles during a three-run top of the 12th inning, helping to propel the Minnesota Twins to a 4-2 win over the host Boston Red Sox in the opener of a three-game series on Friday.
The Twins moved to a game ahead of the Detroit Tigers for the final American League wild card spot. Detroit lost 7-1 to the Baltimore Orioles on Friday.
Each of the top five hitters in Minnesota’s (81-73) lineup had multiple hits, including leadoff-hitting Byron Buxton and Royce Lewis who doubled.
With Kyle Farmer placed on second, Buxton and Larnach singled to help bring home the go-ahead run. After Carlos Correa walked, Wallner added an insurance run with his own base hit to right.
Willi Castro then hit a sacrifice fly to right two batters later, and Griffin Jax allowed only a Connor Wong RBI grounder in Boston’s (76-78) half of the inning to save a victory for Chris Blewitt (1-0).
While first baseman Triston Casas snagged Trevor Larnach’s liner to help Josh Winckowski through a scoreless 10th, the Red Sox offense missed several opportunities to find a walk-off hit, finishing 1-for-19 with runners in scoring position while tying a franchise record with 20 strikeouts.
Louie Varland posted inning-ending strikeouts of Wilyer Abreu in the ninth and Ceddanne Rafaela in the 10th, both with two aboard.
Blewitt fanned Tyler O’Neill and Triston Casas back-to-back to end the 11th.
Wong and Trevor Story each had two hits and an RBI for Boston, which has lost back-to-back and four of five games.
Red Sox starter Richard Fitts became only the second pitcher in MLB history to work at least five innings without allowing an earned run in his first three career starts. He struck out three.
A two-out hit allowed the hosts to draw first blood in the fourth. Tyler O’Neill drew a leadoff walk and moved into scoring position on Wilyer Abreu’s base knock two batters later before scoring the opening run as Story ripped an RBI single into center.
Fitts maintained his scoreless outing after Carlos Santana singled to lead off the fifth, while Luis Guerrero put up a zero in the sixth despite runners on the corners with one out.
The Twins broke through for the tying run in the seventh. Correa grounded into a potential inning-ending double play that could not be turned, allowing Byron Buxton to score after his one-out single.
After Rafaela’s leadoff double in the Boston seventh, Twins relievers Cole Sands and Jhoan Duran struck out five straight Red Sox before the latter stranded the bases loaded — including a Wong single and Story double into the right-field corner — with two outs.
Minnesota rookie starter David Festa struck out six across five innings of four-hit, one-run ball.
