As for the game, what a disaster. For 6 innings it looked like the Red Sox would cruise to a victory over the Minnesota Twins. Payton Tolle tossed 6 innings and allowed just 3 runs while the Boston bats put 6 runs on the board against Connor Prielipp. Then Justin Slaten (0-2, 4.15 ERA) totally imploded in the seventh inning. Byron Buxton and Austin Martin hit 2 run bombs off Slaten to put the Twins in front. The Twins got another run against Tyler Samaniego and stole this one 8-6 at Target Field.
Tolle got the ball to start the top of the first and Byron Buxton struck out swinging to start. Brooks Lee struck out swinging and Austin Martin grounded out to first to end the inning. Prielipp got the ball in the bottom of the first and Jarren Duran walked to start. Ceddanne Rafaela lined out to right but Wilyer Abreu doubled to right to score Duran. Willson Conteras tripled into the centerfield triangle to score Abreu and Andruw Monasterio got a base hit to left to score Willson. Nick Sogard got a base hit to left to move Monasterio to third and Andruw scored on the sac fly to center by Marcelo Mayer. Carlos Narvaez flied out to right to end the inning with the Sox up 4-0.
Naturally Tolle fell apart in the top of the second as Josh Bell got a base hit to right to start. Gabriel Gonzalez walked and Ryan Kreidler doubled to left to score Bell. Tolle booted a grounder by Kody Clemens for an error to load the bases. Luke Kearschall singled to right to score Gonzalez but Alex Jackson struck out swinging. Byron Buxton singled to left to score Kriedler but Lee struck out swinging. Martin popped up to first to end the inning with the Twins down 4-3.
Caleb Durbin lined out to second to start the bottom of the second and Duran popped up to short. Rafaela grounded out to short to end the inning.
Bell flied out to right to open the top of the third but Gonzalez walked again. Kriedler flied out to center and Clemens grounded back to the mound to end the inning. Abreu got a base hit to right to start the bottom of the third but Contreras grounded into a double play. Monasterio walked but was thrown out at second trying to steal to end the inning.
Keaschall struck out swinging to open the top of the fourth and Jackson took strike three. Buxton also watched strike three go by to end the inning. Sogard got a base hit to center to start the bottom of the fourth but Mayer struck out swinging. Narvaez got a base hit to center to move Sogard to third and Durbin dropped down a squeeze bunt....thrown away by Prielipp! Sogard scored and both runners moved into scoring position. Duran grounded out to first but Narvaez scored and Durbin moved to third. Rafaela walked but Abreu flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 6-3.
Lee struck out swinging to start the top of the fifth and Martin popped up to first. Bell grounded out to short to end the inning. Travis Adams came in to pitch the bottom of the fifth and Contreras grounded out to third to start. Monasterio struck out swinging but Sogard walked. Mayer grounded back to the mound to end the inning.
Gonzalez hit one up the elevator shaft to start the top of the sixth and Kreidler struck out swinging. Clemens grounded out to second to end the inning. That was it for Tolle after just 85 pitches as he allowed 3 runs in 6 innings of work off 4 hits and 2 walks.
Narvaez struck out swinging to open the bottom of the sixth and Durbin flied out to center. Duran struck out swinging to end the inning.
Justin "Incinerator" Slaten came in to crap his pants in the top of the seventh as Keaschall got a base hit to right to start. Jackson struck out swinging but Buxton hit a home run all the way to Las Vegas. Lee walked and Martin hit a two run home run all the way to China to put the Twins up for good. Bell grounded back to the mound but Gonzalez got a base hit to third to chase Slaten. Greg Weissert came in and Kriedler got a base hit to center, but Clemns grounded out to first to end the inning with the Twins up 7-6.
Once again when the Sox went down, they gave up in the bottom of the seventh. James Outman took over for Bell with Yoendrys Gomez now on the mound. Rafaela grounded out to third, Abreu flied out to left and Contreras struck out swinging to end the inning in short order.
Keaschall was hit with a pitch to start the top of the eighth but was thrown out at second trying to steal. Jackson grounded out to third and Buxton grounded out to third to end the inning. Eric Orze came in to pitch the bottom of the eighth and Masataka Yoshida pinch hit for Monasterio. Yoshida grounded out to second, Sogard struck out swinging and....Mayer reached on an error by Keaschall. Narvaez walked and Mickey Gasper pinch hit for Durbin. Anthony Banda came in to face him and Mickey flied out to right to end the inning.
The Twins iced the game in the top of the ninth with Isiah Kiner-Falefa in for Gasper and Tyler Samaniego on the mound. Sogard booted a grounder by Lee to start and Martin caught Contreras at first asleep with a bunt single. Outman was hit with a pitch to load the bases and that was it for Samaniego. Tyron Guerrero came in to make his Sox debut and Trevor Larnach pinch hit for Gonzalez. Larnach walked to score Lee but Kriedler struck out swinging. Clemens flied out to center and Keaschall forced Larnach at second to end the inning with the Twins up 8-6.
Twins are all smiles
Orze came back to finish the bottom of the ninth and Duran swung and missed for strike three....only to take first when the ball got away. Rafaela lined out to center and Abreu grounded into a double play to end the game. The Twins had won it 8-6.
Twins win
Nice inning, Jackass
Andruw Monasterio was 1 for 2 with a walk, rbi and run scored.
Jackass of The Night is Justin Slaten. He allowed 4 runs in the top of the eighth to lose the game.
The Good:
Wilyer Abreu was 2 for 5 with an rbi.
Andruw Monasterio was 1 for 2 with a walk, rbi and run scored.
Nick Sogard was 2 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Carlos Narvaez was 1 for 3 with a walk and a run scored.
Payton Tolle tossed six solid innings allowing just three runs off 4 hits and 2 walks while striking out nine.
Greg Weissert tossed 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
The Bad:
Masataka Yoshida was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Mickey Gasper was 0 for 1 as a pinch hitter.
Tyler Samaniego was charged with a run in the ninth inning.
The Ugly:
Jarren Duran was 0 for 4 with 2 strikeouts but walked, drove in a run and scored a run.
Ceddanne Rafaela was 0 for 4 but walked.
Willson Contreras was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout but drove in a run and scored a run.
Marcelo Mayer was 0 for 3 with a strikeout but drove in a run.
Caleb Durbin was 0 for 2 but drove in a run.
Tyron Guerrero allowed an inherited runner to score but none of his own in an inning of work.
Honorable Mention:
Isiah Kiner-Falefa played short in the top of the ninth.
Final Thoughts:
Such a shame it had to be Slaten but you knew this was coming. The Sox bullpen had been lights out with the lead all season but they were bound to blow one. Not only that, its an epicemic that once the Sox go down, they stay down. Apart from Duran on a lucky bounce, not a single battery reached base in the final two innings. That is far more damaging than a once in a while blown save by a normally reliable bullpen. Tolle pitched well enough to earn the win but it just wasn't meant to be this time. Nobody is going to tear their hair out too much over Slaten, but in a season already going down the drain, it just added to the disaster. The loss dropped the Sox to 22-28, good for last place in the AL East. The Sox look to bounce back tomorrow afternoon against the Twins when Jovani Moran (0-1) piggybacks for Brayan Bello against Taj Bradley of Minnesota. The game begins at 4:10 PM at Fenway Park.
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