MINNEAPOLIS — Max Kepler delivered the game-winning hit for the Minnesota Twins on the last game of a difficult homestead for the Twins to end a nine-game winning stint for the visiting Boston Red Sox. Kepler’s bloop RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave Minnesota a 4-3 victory Thursday over Boston. The hit ended a five-game losing streak for the Twins and a nine-game win streak for the Red Sox.
The Twins avoided matching their longest losing streak in three years under Baldelli, a six-game slide from July 31-Aug. 5, 2020. The Red Sox, who tied it in the eighth on Alex Verdugo’s three-run double, were on their longest winning streak since a 10-game run in 2018, the season they won the World Series.
Alex Colomé (1-1) pitched a scoreless ninth for the victory, despite a one-out double by Christian Arroyo. Verdugo capped a 10-pitch at-bat against reliever Taylor Rogers with his two-out double in the eighth that tied the game at 3-3. Five times during their winning streak, the Red Sox rallied from a deficit in the fifth inning or later.
The Red Sox return to Boston to host the Chicago White Sox in a four-game series starting tonighty. Right-hander Nick Pivetta (2-0, 3.27 ERA) will take the mound for the series opener.