The Minnesota Twins are just one game out of first place in the American League Central. They held off the Boston Red Sox 2-1 Tuesday night at Target Field.
The Twins scored two runs in the first inning and were held quiet the rest of the way, but that was good enough as they held on for the win.
Twins starter Mike Pelfrey (4-1) made another quality start. He tossed seven strong innings to pick up the victory.
Pelfrey issues fourth-inning walk to Mike Napoli, the first walk drawn off a Twins pitcher since Saturday.
— Phil Miller (@MillerStrib) May 27, 2015
It was the only walk of the game for Pelfrey, who also held the Red Sox to one run and five hits in seven innings. Blaine Boyer picked up the first two outs in the eighth before getting into trouble. So Glen Perkins came on to record a four-out save.
Clay Buchholz (2-6) started for the Red Sox and worked into the eighth inning, giving up just the two runs, but was tagged with the loss.
It didn’t take the Twins long to get on the scoreboard. Brian Dozier led off the game with a double, then scored on a double by Trevor Plouffe, who came around to score on a double from Kurt Suzuki, giving the Twins a 2-0 lead.
The Twins had a golden opportunity to stretch the lead in the fourth inning as they loaded the bases with one out. But the threat came to an end when Aaron Hicks hit into a double play.
Hicks grounds into a double play with the bases loaded to end the fourth. Twins still up 2-1
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) May 27, 2015
Plouffe continued to swing a hot bat for the Twins. He finished 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored. Suzuki drove in the only other Twins run.
The Twins and Red Sox conclude the series on Wednesday afternoon. Minnesota will send Phil Hughes (3-4) to the mound against Boston’s Rick Porcello (4-3).
