Twins fall to Red Sox in series finale

Q: What was the final score of the Twins vs Red Sox game?

The final score was 9-5 in favor of the Boston Red Sox.

Q: Who hit a home run for the Twins in the game against the Red Sox?

Austin Martin hit a second-deck home run for the Twins in the first inning.

Q: How many hits did the Twins have during the game against the Red Sox?

The Twins had only three hits in the first eight innings of the game.

When Austin Martin hit a second-deck home run in the first inning on Wednesday, it looked as if the Twins were going to be off to the races.

The Twins’ offense had been difficult to contain of late, and it had defeated some of the best lefties in the game — Tarik Skubal, Framber Valdez and Garrett Crochet — in the past week and a half. But up against young Boston southpaw Connelly Early, Martin’s blast was all the Twins could muster in six innings.

A slow day from the offense for most of the game, a tough start from starter Simeon Woods Richardson and some shaky defense helped the Boston Red Sox to a 9-5 win over the Twins in the series finale at Target Field.

The Twins had just three hits in the first eight innings, two from Martin. After Victor Caratini’s single in the second inning, the Twins did not have another hit until Martin’s at-bat in the eighth inning.

Though the Twins did have some baserunners through the middle innings, they were unable to do much to advance them. They finally mounted another rally in the ninth with Brooks Lee contributing an RBI knock and Ryan Kreidler following with a three-run homer.

While they had an early lead, a third inning that snowballed on them put them in a deep hole that they were unable to recover from.

The first three batters of the inning reached base on a pair of soft singles and a walk. It looked as if Woods Richardson had induced the groundball he was looking for when Masataka Yoshida hit one towards second base Luke Keaschall. But Keaschall, who looked as if he were hunting two outs, seemed to rush the play and couldn’t hang onto the ball. Then, trying to get at least one out, he tried to throw to first base. But a wild, off-balance throw from his knees only worsened the situation.

Two runs scored on the play, giving the Red Sox their first lead of the day.

The next batter, Trevor Story, hammered a first-pitch curveball to left-center, and the three-run home run put the Twins down 5-1.

Boston tacked on another pair of runs in the fifth, Woods Richardson’s final inning of work, and two more in the sixth off reliever Anthony Banda.

Though the Twins were unable to complete the sweep, they enter a long-awaited off day winners of 8 of their past 10, still atop the American League.