The Minnesota Twins got out to an early 4-0 lead and knocked out Boston starter Nick Pivetta after just two innings on Friday afternoon, en route to an 8-4 win at Fenway Park in the Red Sox home opener on Jackie Robinson Day.
On the 75th anniversary of the MLB debut of Robinson, Minnesota (3-4) didn’t waste any time in jumping ahead against Pivetta. Luis Arraez had a first inning RBI single, while Miguel Sano had a two-run homerun and Arraez doubled in another in a three run second that ended the day for Pivetta. Alex Verdugo got Boston on the board with a solo homer in the bottom of the second, before a two-run single by Gary Sanchez in the fifth extended the Twins advantage to 6-1. The Red Sox got back in the game in the eighth inning slicing it to 6-4 on a Kike Hernandez RBI double and a two-run homerun by Rafael Devers. The guests put it away against Matt Barnes in the ninth when Max Kepler singled in a run and Trevor Larnach added an RBI groundout.
Pivetta (0-2) took the loss allowing four runs on five hits in the 2.0 inning effort. The right hander owns a 9.39 earned run average early on in the season. Devers and Jackie Bradley Jr. had two hits each, as Boston falls to 3-4. Arraez had two hits for Minnesota with two RBI, while Sano and Sanchez also had a pair driven in. Twins starter Joe Ryan (1-1) was fantastic on the mound picking up his first win of the season allowing just one run on five hits with no walks and seven strikeouts in 6.0 innings. Game two of the four game series is scheduled for Saturday at 4:10 p.m. slating RHP Tanner Houck (0-0, 8.10 ERA) on the hill for Boston, against RHP Sonny Gray (0-0, 3.86) for Minnesota.
