Byron Buxton and Austin Martin hit two-run home runs in the seventh inning as the visiting Minnesota Twins came from behind for an 8-6 win over the Boston Red Sox to begin a three-game series Friday night.
The Twins rallied from deficits of 4-0 and 6-3 to win on the strength of the four-run frame, tagging Boston reliever Justin Slaten (0-2) for his first earned runs of the season.
Buxton and Martin both went 2-for-5 and combined for five RBIs. Ryan Kriedler and Luke Keaschall also had multi-hit games and an RBI apiece.
An inning after making a leaping catch to rob a potential Caleb Durbin extra-base hit, Martin knocked the go-ahead shot into the left-center field seats. Luke Keaschall had led off the frame with a single, preceding Buxton’s towering blast to center.
The Twins jumped back in front after batting around for the second time in the game but needed until the ninth to extend their lead. An error, Martin single and a hit batter loaded the bases before a walk to Trevor Larnach forced in a run.
Travis Adams (1-0) earned the win with two innings of relief behind starter Connor Prielipp, who worked the first four.
Anthony Banda escaped a two-on jam in the eighth and finished the game with a four-out save.
Wilyer Abreu (2-for-5) and Nick Sogard (2-for-3) both had multiple hits for the Red Sox.
The Red Sox roared out to a 4-0 lead in the first inning, which began with Jarren Duran drawing a leadoff walk and scoring on Abreu’s double to deep center field two batters later.
A Willson Contreras triple off the Green Monster and Andruw Monasterio’s chopping single over the head of Minnesota third baseman Brooks Lee capped a string of three straight run-scoring hits. After Sogard singled, Marcelo Mayer’s sacrifice fly to center capped the frame.
The visitors wasted little time cutting into their deficit. In the second, the first five Twins reached before all nine stepped to the plate against Tolle.
After Josh Bell singled and Gabriel Gonzalez walked in his first career plate appearance, Kriedler sent a bounding double down the third-base line to bring in the Twins’ first run. Kody Clemens then reached on a mishandled comebacker to Tolle before Keaschall and Buxton knocked in RBIs.
The Red Sox restored a multi-run lead with a pair in the fourth, as Sogard’s leadoff single and a Narvaez knock two batters later set up two runs without the benefit of another hit. Durbin’s squeeze bunt plated one run, and Prielipp’s throwing error moved Carlos Narvaez up a base before he scored on Duran’s groundout.
