Facing a run of starting pitching that included two-time Cy Young winner Corey Kluber
Braden Smith Colts Jersey , Carlos Carrasco, Chris Sale and David Price, the Minnesota Twins could have seen their fledgling playoff hopes fade toward
another long summer.
Instead, Minnesota’s been rejuvenated by beating some of the best pitching in the American League.
Robbie Grossman and Max Kepler homered to back an effective start by Lance Lynn as the Twins beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1 on Wednesday night.
Grossman led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run and Kepler added a two-run shot off Boston starter David Price (8-5). Brian Dozier added a
pair of doubles to help Minnesota win for the fourth time in five games.
The Twins beat Kluber and Carrasco in taking two of three games at Cleveland before returning home and winning the first two games against the Red Sox with
Sale and Price starting.
”Yeah, after the game when you acknowledge who’s on the mound,” Kepler said when asked if Minnesota can take something away from beating the recent
competition. ”I feel like we go into games and we’re kind of blind to who’s on
the mound and we grind together, which is awesome about this team.”
Lynn (5-5) again struggled with command, issuing five walks, but he surrendered just one unearned run and three hits in five innings.
Four relievers combined for four scoreless innings, retiring 12 of the final 13 batters
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”If you can find a way to battle every at-bat, wait for something to break, try to build pitch-count when you can, and if you’re holding them down as our
starting pitching has been doing, you know you’ve got a chance late,” Twins
manager Paul Molitor said.
The Red Sox were 0 for 9 with runners in scoring position and are 2 for 22 in the first two games of the series. They’ve stranded 18 baserunners in the two
games and lost for the fourth time in five games.
”Pitching-wise, we’ve been great,” Boston manager Alex Cora said. ”I’ll take that. If we keep throwing the ball the way we’ve been throwing we’re going to
win a lot of ballgames. We know the offense, you know how it is.”
Lynn has had an uncharacteristic wild season in his first year with the Twins. He walked at least five batters for the fifth time in 14 starts. But the
veteran right-hander has limited the damage and allowed less than three runs in
five of his last six starts.
”Command was really not there,” Lynn said. ”But I was able to make pitches with runners in scoring position and not give up a bunch of runs. With this
offense we have
http://www.49ersauthorizedshops.com/authentic-korey-toomer-jersey , you keep them to one run, we’re going to win the games more times than not.”
Boston’s lone run scored in the second as Lynn couldn’t catch first baseman Logan Morrison’s high throw to first for the final out of the inning, allowing
Mitch Moreland to score from second base on an error charged to Morrison.
”We’ve been through stuff like this in the past, even this year early on,” Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts said of the offense. ”The pitching has been
doing great. It’s up to us now to come through.”
PAYING THE PRICE
Price was hurt by the home run but allowed three runs on seven hits and a walk. He had given up just one home run in his previous five starts and seven
total in 14 starts this season coming into Wednesday.
”Not so much that he could hit it like he did, but to keep it fair, that’s pretty impressive,” Price said of Kepler’s home run.
SHOWING SIGNS
Dozier had just one extra-base hit in his previous 13 games while hitting .068. His double off the left-field wall in the eighth plated Eddie Rosario.
Kepler hit his first home run in 22 games and the fifth of his eight this season against left-handed pitching. Kepler was hitting .158 over his previous
21 games with just four RBIs.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: LHP Drew Pomeranz is getting closer to having his first throwing session since he went on the 10-day disabled list on June 5 for left biceps
tendonitis. Cora said Pomeranz was dealing with soreness in his neck but has
recovered.
Twins: Molitor said OF Byron Buxton’s first rehab game in Triple-A on Tuesday went well and that his left foot with the broken toe is ”in a good place and we
haven’t said that for about seven weeks or so.” There is no timetable for
Buxton’s return.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: RHP Rick Porcello (8-3, 3.70 ERA) will start the series and road trip finale on Thursday afternoon. Porcello pitched six innings and gave up four
runs in a no-decision at Seattle in his last start.
Twins: RHP Kyle Gibson (2-4, 3.27) counters for Minnesota. Gibson has allowed five total runs over his last four starts
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Gareon Conley is ready for a fresh start.
The 2017 first-round pick who was expected to become the shutdown cornerback Oakland has lacked for years had his first season derailed by injuries that
limited him to just two games as a rookie and created a void in the Raiders
secondary.
"I feel like it's still my rookie year because I didn't play a lot," Conley said Tuesday. "I learned a lot mentally. I feel like it's my second year
mentally knowing the game and the logistics. But physically I feel like it's my
rookie year again because I didn't play a lot."
Conley is a key part of a revamped secondary that brings back just one cornerback who played at least 100 snaps on defense last year in Dexter
McDonald, who is a longshot to make the team in 2018.
David Amerson and Sean Smith were let go and TJ Carrie left for Cleveland in free agency. In their place are free agent acquisitions Rashaan Melvin, Daryl
Worley and Leon Hall, as well as draft pick Nick Nelson.
But perhaps the most important member of that group will be Conley, who is being counted on to provide the lockdown coverage Oakland has been missing ever
since Nnamdi Asomugha left seven years ago.
"He's showing why he was the first-round pick," safety Reggie Nelson said. "I think there's a high standard out there for him and he's holding that up. I
think Conley is doing a great job right now doing what the coaches ask him to
do. ... He just has tight coverage. A great little athlete. He's going to be
great in this game. Just keep learning and playing ball."
Conley wasn't able to do much as a rookie after being drafted 24th overall out of Ohio State despite a rape allegation that surfaced shortly before the
draft but ended up with no charges being filed.
Conley was impressive in offseason workouts last year before hurting his shin in minicamp in June. That injury lingered and kept Conley sidelined for all of
training camp.
He managed to work his way back and made it on the field for his NFL debut in Week 2 but said he was never completely healthy. Conley showed flashes of his
ability the first time he was targeted with a pass when he made an acrobatic
breakup against the New York Jets and nearly tipped the ball to Nelson for an
interception.
But he played only one more game, finishing the season with just 93 defensive snaps and seven tackles. In 53 snaps of coverage, Conley allowed just four
catches for 35 yards, according to SportRadar.
"I feel like I played all right but I feel like I could play way better watching film
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Conley tried to work his way back by taking time off practice but never completely healed and eventually needed season-ending surgery.
He was limited at the start of the offseason program this year but is now back to full speed and showing the Raiders why he was so coveted coming out of
college.
"It's been a dark world that he's been in, this young man," coach Jon Gruden said. "He had a terrible injury he had to rehab from. He's had to change
coaches, learn a new system. It's been a slow, steady process but man he's a
good player. When he's feeling good, you can see why we picked him No. 1."
NOTES: Rookie T Brandon Parker and DL Fadol Brown got into a fight during a two-minute drill late in practice and Gruden sent Brown off the field and to the
weight room. "I didn't like what happened today, particularly in the situation.
... We're in a two-minute drill to win the game and we got a guy ejected for
fighting," Gruden said. ... S Marcus Gilchrist sat out with a minor calf
injury.
.
