Minnesota @ Boston preview
Fenway Park
Last Meeting ( Jun 3, 2015 ) Minnesota 3, Boston 6
The Boston Red Sox benefited from a day off – at least in terms of the pitching staff. The Red Sox will still be trying to get something out of the offense when they host the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday in a day-night doubleheader that was necessitated by Monday’s rainout.
Boston went 1-6 on a seven-game road trip that included three losses in Minnesota as the pitching staff and the offense took turns letting the team down. Clay Buchholz made sure the pitching staff held up its end of the bargain on Tuesday and Koji Uehara finished off a 1-0 shutout. The Twins, who went 20-7 in May, are off to a 0-1 start in June after managing only three hits on Tuesday. Four of those seven losses last month came on the road, and Minnesota is just 11-13 outside the comforts of Target Field.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), NESN (Boston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins RH Trevor May (3-3, 5.07 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH Rick Porcello (4-4, 5.37)
May has one win in his last five starts and was reached for four runs and eight hits over six innings without factoring in the decision against Toronto on Friday. The 25-year-old stays around the plate with only one walk allowed in his last three turns but has only completed seven innings once this season. May is making his first appearance against the Red Sox and is 1-1 with a 6.91 ERA in three 2015 road starts.
Porcello has had a week off since getting rocked for six runs on seven hits in seven innings in a loss at Minnesota. The sinkerball specialist surrendered a pair of home runs in that outing and five in his last three. Porcello is 3-2 with a 5.46 ERA in five starts at Fenway Park, including a 4 2/3-inning stint against the Los Angeles Angels on May 22 in which he was lit up for seven runs.
WALK-OFFS
1. Red Sox SS Xander Bogaerts is 5-for-7 over the last two games, breaking out of an 0-for-15 slump.
2. Minnesota RHP Ricky Nolasco (ankle) will likely skip his next start.
3. Boston 3B Pablo Sandoval has not recorded multiple hits in a game since May 10, dropping his average from .306 to .249.
PREDICTION: Twins 6, Red Sox 5