The Twins rallied to score eight unanswered runs, including four in the ninth inning as they went on to beat the Boston Red Sox 8-4 at Fenway Thursday afternoon.
The victory secured a split in the four-game series.
Tommy Milone struggled in his return to a big league mound. Milone gave up four runs (two earned) on nine hits in five innings, but he didn’t factor in the decision.
The Twins’ rally began in the fifth, as Torii Hunter came through when the Twins needed him the most. Trailing 4-0 in the top of the fifth, Hunter crushed a three-run homer over the “green monster” in left to get the Twins back into the game and cut the Red Sox lead to one at 4-3.
200 home runs with the #MNTwins later, and @toriihunter48's swing is as sweet as ever: http://t.co/VPhGpmFlAR pic.twitter.com/crbcG4VwoR
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) June 4, 2015
In the sixth, Kurt Suzuki tied the game by singling with two outs to score Eduardo Escobar, who reached on an error to tie the game at four.
Relievers Ryan Pressly, Brian Duensing, Casey Fien and Aaron Thompson (1-1) kept Boston off the scoreboard through the eighth, with Thompson gaining the win after the Twins struck in the ninth.
Brian Dozier led off with a single off the monster in left, followed by an infield hit for Hunter. Mauer then bunted, but an error by Boston third baseman Pablo Sandoval allowed Dozier to take the turn from third to score.
Plouffe then drove in Hunter to give the Twins a two-run lead – it was Plouffe’s first hit of the series. Eduardo Escobar then drove in Mauer with a double to put the Twins up three and Shane Robinson then hit a sacrifice fly to score Plouffe.
Glen Perkins then came on in the ninth to close out the victory.
The Twins return to Target Field Friday night to face the Milwaukee Brewers. Kyle Gibson (4-3) will face former Twins righty Kyle Lohse.
