*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
All winning streaks come to an end. Ceddanne Rafaela homered, Vaughn Grissom drove in two runs, and the Boston Red Sox rolled past the Minnesota Twins with a 9-2 victory Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Having lost the first two games of the series, the Red Sox salvaged the series finale to avoid the sweep and snap the Twins long 12 game winning streak. Rafaela, Grissom, Rafael Devers, and Dominic Smith each drove in two runs for the Red Sox, who improved to 19-16 with the win.
Boston manager Alex Cora said of the finale win that "Losing two out of three sucks here, but winning this one is very gratifying. It took a total team effort. The coaches did an outstanding job. Now it’s a happy flight and get ready for Atlanta."
Ryan Jeffers gave the Twins a 1-0 lead in the 3rd when he blasted a solo home run to left field, his 6th homer of the year. Rob Refsnyder tied the game in the 4th with an RBI double to make it 1-1. Rafaela cranked a two run home run in the 5th to make it 3-1. Grissom drove in two runs in the top of the 8th to make it a 5-1 game.
Later in the inning, Smith added two more runs with a two run double that extended the lead to 7-1. In the bottom of the 8th, Trevor Larnach cut into the deficit to the Twins, hitting a single that scored Max Kepler to cut the deficit to 7-2. In the 9th inning, Devers hit his 4th home run of the season, this one a two run shot to make it a 9-2 game.
Cooper Criswell got the start for the Red Sox, allowing one run while striking out 5 hitters in 4 1/3 innings pitched. Brennan Bernardino finished the 5th before Zack Kelly pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Cam Booser got one out before Josh Winckowski and Kenley Jansen each threw one inning.
Joe Ryan was the starter for the Twins, getting charged with 3 runs on 4 hits and one walk in 6 innings. Kody Funderburk handled the next 1 1/3 innings, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits and a walk. Jay Jackson was responsible for two runs in 1 2/3 innings.
Minnesota shortstop Carlos Correa said of the loss that "It did feel like every time an opportunity arose in the past 12 games, it felt like we were always coming through. Today was just one of the days that we're not able to do that. But at the same time, looking at the big picture, it's been a couple of good weeks. We've just got to keep going. It's a fun team."
After a day off on Monday, the Red Sox start a quick two game series against the Atlanta Braves, with Kutter Crawford starting the series opener. The Twins host the Seattle Mariners Monday night with Simeon Woods-Richardson set to start.
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