Yes, the lineup helped, but in a way, the Twins beat themselves up.  Throughout the game, especially in the late innings, the Red Sox scored some cheap runs because the Twins were doing what they do best, absolutely blowing the game for themselves.  The Red Sox started the game by scoring 4 first inning runs.  Mookie Betts reached on an infield single, and was driven all the way home by a Xander Bogaerts double.  That was the first of four hits Bogaerts had on the game.  Hanley Ramirez walked, and JBJ knocked both Bogaerts and Hanley in by smashing a home run to right.  The Killer B’s struck again!

E-Rod started the game smoothly, but things got ugly starting in the 3rd inning.  With Byron Buxton on first, Eduardo Nunez hit a single off the right field wall.  Nunez started for second, but Betts made an amazing throw to Bogaerts to get him out!  Basically, the Killer B’s did it once again, and this time they saved Eduardo Rodriguez from an inning he would regret.  However, the next inning E-Rod lost control again.  He gave up a walk followed by a single, and after that he really screwed up.

Kurt Suzuki hit a three run bomb off of him!  It looked like a batting practice pitch!  It was right down the middle and easy to smash.  The next inning, E-Rod gave up another run!  Two singles made it first and third, and Trevor Plouffe drove in the run on a sac fly.  He gave up yet another single after that!  That was the end of it for him!

The Red Sox struck back in the 6th though, and in a strange way.  It was the Twins fault.  Xander Bogaerts got a base hit, and with Big Papi up, the Twins were on heavy shift.  Ortiz hit a ground ball to second, and they tried for a double play, but couldn’t get Bogaerts.  Bogaerts kept running to third, and there was nobody there to cover!  They had no way to get Bogaerts out!  He scored on a fly ball by Hanley Ramirez.  That knocked out the Twins starter, too!  It was shaping up to be a tight slug fest, but things changed.

The 6th inning was a little rough, but the Sox bullpen kept control the next couple innings.  The Red Sox kept their 5-4 lead!  Then came the 8th inning.  With Dustin Pedroia on second due to an outfield error, Xander Bogaerts hit in a two run homer.  That was just the start of it.  Some of their runs came because of good hitting, others by bad fielding.  The Red Sox got 1st and 2nd, Big Papi got a base hit and Chris Young walked.  Then came another costly error.  Travis Shaw grounded it to Buddy Boshers, the pitcher.  He made a terrible throw to Max Kepler, who’s typically an outfielder.  It went into foul territory, and a run was in.  Two more runners were in scoring position, and they were knocked in by Sandy Leon’s single.   The Red Sox ended the inning with a 6 run lead.

That wasn’t even the end.  The rally continued an inning later.  After Dustin Pedroia missed another chance to extend his hitting streak, the new pitcher gave up two straight base hits.  Hanley Ramirez advanced the runners on his ground ball, and Jackie Bradley Jr. was hit by the pitch to load up the bases.  Another mistake by the Twins!  Chris Young drove in 2 runs on a single, and it was still 1st and 2nd!  The bases were loaded once again on Travis Shaw’s walk, and the Twins made a 4th mistake!  A wild pitch advanced all runners one base, scoring the 13th run!

Then the craziest thing yet happened!  The Twins bullpen was so worn out, that Twins young closer Brandon Kintzler came in, and he gave up another 2 run single!    They left the inning with a 15-4 lead!  What a blowout!   Clay Buchholz came in for the bottom of the inning.  He gave up two walks, but who cares?  The Red Sox had an 11 run lead!  In the end, Buchholz didn’t even give up a run!

The Red Sox have really messed with the worst team in the league this weekend, and it’s worked!  Pedroia may have lost his hitting streak, but the Sox lead the series 2-0!  Can they do it again?  Watch the series finale of Red Sox @ Twins today at 2:00.

Stat Wrap

• Sandy Leon had his first four hit game with the Red Sox
• Xander Bogaerts now has two straight 4-hit games, can he start a four hit game streak?
• Dustin Pedroia may have gone 0-6, but he reached on an error and scored a run
• The Red Sox have four players in the league’s top 15 for RBIs.  Mookie Betts is just shy of Top 5 and David Ortiz leads the league still
• Until today, the Red Sox have had a player that led the league in hitting streaks since the start of May