Prior to this afternoon's contest, Boston Red Sox starting pitchers had turned in quality outings in nine of the last eleven games.
Today, however, that run of proficiency came to an abrupt halt as the Minnesota bats absolutely dominated the inferior offerings of starter Joe Kelly (1-4), touching him for seven earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings of work.
The Minnesota Twins mustered a run in the first inning before opening up an onslaught of scoring in the second, recording six runs punctuated by a two-out, three-run blast by third baseman Trevor Plouffe. Minnesota recorded a total of 16 hits on the afternoon, eight of which came against Kelly.
Minnesota, improving to 26-18 with the victory, rattled Kelly immediately with second baseman Brian Dozier ripping the right-hander's initial pitch down the left-field line for a double. A Torii Hunter grounder moved Dozier to third, and he came around to score on a sacrifice fly by former MVP catcher Joe Mauer as the Twins grasped a lead that they would not relinquish.
After a diving stop by center fielder Aaron Hicks prevented a Boston (21-24) run from scoring in the top of the inning, Minnesota created an insurmountable deficit for the Red Sox in the bottom half of the stanza. Shortstop Eduardo Escobar began the offensive with a single to left, and he immediately came around to score after designated hitter Eduardo Nunez laced a double down the left field line. Left fielder Eddie Rosario plated Nunez with a subsequent single to right, and after a Hicks single moved him to third, Rosario himself scored on a groundout by Hunter.
.@TPlouffe24 goes yard to put 3 more runs on the board. Watch: http://t.co/HcFFGBi1U2 #MNTwins pic.twitter.com/ng8hdsrK7a
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) May 25, 2015
With two outs in the inning, Kelly appeared to be positioned to escape from the inning having acquired only a four-run deficit; however, an ensuing walk to Mauer opened the door for Plouffe, who smacked his seventh homer of the season into the left-field seats to increase the Minnesota advantage to 7-0.
Long reliever Matt Barnes recorded 3 1/3 innings of shutout ball for the Red Sox; however, by that time, the result had already been decided. Twins starting pitcher Ricky Nolasco (5-1) was dominant in garnering his fifth consecutive victory, allowing just two runs on seven hits in 7 2/3 innings.
The sole showing of success for a scuffling Red Sox offensive came in the third inning as both catcher Blake Swihart and second baseman Dustin Pedroia came around to score after leading off the inning with singles.
After an RBI single by Hanley Ramirez, however, the Boston bats succumbed to the whims of a commanding effort by Nolasco, who set down 15 consecutive batters before being relieved after a double by center fielder Mookie Betts with two outs in the eighth inning. The win represents a turning point for Nolasco, who, despite his outstanding record, entered this afternoon's matchup with a 6.00 ERA.
The two squads will face off again tomorrow evening at 8:10 p.m. EDT with Boston's Clay Buchholz (2-5, 4.58 ERA) facing off against Mike Pelfrey (3-1, 3.00 ERA).