Final, Twins Win 6-5: The Red Sox let this one slip away from them.
After taking a 5-1 lead early on in the game, Felix Doubront just couldn't hold on and allowed four runs in the fifth inning.
As the game wore on, Boston had plenty of opportunities but were just unable to capitalize, including in the ninth with Ryan Lavarnway nearly sending the Sox off with a walk-off win.
In the end, though, it was Jamey Carroll's single in the top of the 10th that settled this one, driving in Mastroianni for the game-winner.
The Sox are now one game under .500 yet again, and in need of a winning streak in order to have any sort of hope for a playoff berth.
Mid 10th, Twins 6-5: So, the Red Sox might be done here on Friday.
After a leadoff double got down from Darin Mastroianni, the red-hot Jamey Carroll knocked him in with an RBI-single to center field.
The No. 9 hitter went 4-for-4 in this one, driving in his only run of the night in the 10th to give the Twins the lead.
Padilla looked solid in the ninth, showing well with the strikeout — also how he also ended the 10th. But it was in the 10th that he struggled to find his form and ended up giving up the go-ahead hit.
Bottom 9th, 5-5: Ryan Lavarnway nearly played the role of hero, belting a fastball to deep left-center field but just short of a game-winner.
But even after fighting off nearly everything that Twins reliever Jeff Gray had to offer, Middlebrooks couldn't find his way to bring the pinch-running Ciriaco around.
This one is headed to extras, and we could be in for a long night if the Sox can't find an offensive stroke soon.
Mid 9th, 5-5: Andrew Miller was cruising right along, but a walk to Willingham and subsequent HBP on Morneau made Valentine call it a night for the reliever.
Vicente Padilla, who thrives when inheriting runners, came on in relief and shut down outfielder Danny Valencia on strikes.
Padilla continues his dominance and gave the Red Sox new life, hopefully the offense can counter with some spunk of their own.
End 8th, 5-5: The Sox loaded the bases, but even Jacoby Ellsbury was unable to get a run across on the Twins bullpen.
Pedey came up just short too, flying out to deep right field. No laser show to speak of on Friday.
Carl Crawford started the rally with his third hit of the night, now just a triple shy of the cycle — I know, wishful thinking. But a 3-for-4 night with a double, home run and 3 RBIs might be Carl's best game since returning to the Boston lineup.
Mid 8th, 5-5: Melancon was solid in his inning of work, really making the Minnesota batters fight for everything.
But after a tough-luck single, which blasted Melancon off the left arm, it was Miller Time at Fenway.
Miller got a quick groundout to end the inning and get the Boston offense back to the plate.
In need of some big hits here in eighth, Carl Crawford — who homered earlier — will be taking his turn at the dish.
End 7th, 5-5: Dustin Pedroia nearly blew a gasket, after the home plate umpire decided to widen the strike zone to about eight feet.
He and Ellsbury both fell victim to some awful strike-three calls, but it was Cody Ross that finally reenergized the Sox offense.
Ross bombed a double off the Monster and gave Boston some life.
The Twins escaped the jam, though, as Adrian Gonzalez was intentionally walked and Ryan Lavarnway popped out to end the inning. Lavarnway has been god awful since his call-up too, now 0-for-7 with a walk in the two games.
Maybe it's not such a hot move batting him behind Gonzo… just a thought.
Mid 7th, 5-5: Justin Morneau just continues his ravaging of Red Sox pitching. But Mark Melancon came up big in relief, showing that he does have some clutch in him after all.
This time it was a two-out double off the left-field wall from Morneau, which forced Craig Breslow from the game.
Breslow threw the ball very well, though, giving up just the one hit over 1 1/3 innings of work. It looks like his acquisition was a really solid decision by Boston and gives them added depth from the left side in the pen.
End 6th, 5-5: Brian Duensing is locked into cruise control. Luckily, that is likely his last inning of the night.
Duensing sat the Sox down for his first 1-2-3 inning of the night. And with some serious struggles since their early-inning outburst, this could be a serious problem for the Boston bats.
Andrew Miller and Mark Melancon look to be up in the pen, so it should be interesting to see how the bullpen is handled from here on out.
Mid 6th, 5-5: Bring in the lefty! It's Breslow time!
Tazawa got a quick grounder, but also allowed a double down the left-field line with the top of the lineup due up. That can only mean one thing, bring on lefty-specialist!
Breslow got a pair of quick groundouts from both Span and Revere, holding the score at 5-5 heading into the bottom of the sixth.
Let's see if the Boston bats can respond with some runs.
Pitching Change: Doubront's night is over after five innings. It looks like that struggle-some fifth did him in, as Junichi Tazawa is coming in to take over.
End 5th, 5-5: Joe Mauer may have made the All-Star team as a one of the AL's two catchers, but he certainly didn't look like an All-Star in the fifth.
After a Cody Ross leadoff single, Mauer overthrew the second base bag and allowed a pair of runners to man the basepaths as the Sox attempted to take the lead.
But despite the pair of errors in the inning, Ryan Lavarnway and Will Middlebrooks came up very small and were unable to convert anything in the way of runs.
Mid 5th, 5-5: Felix is officially out of control — and not in a good way.
After four fairly dominant innings, Doubront has allowed two singles and pair of walks — including one with bases loaded — to give the Twins another run.
Justin Morneau also helped make up for his costly three-run error in the third, belting a two-run single to center field and bringing the Twins back within one run.
Doubront should really be thanking Cody Ross for his stellar defense, though, as the right fielder saved at least one run with an awesome running grab down by the wall in right.
Doubront hasn't had the cleanest of outings, allowing nine hits and four walks to go along with just two strikeouts — which would be a season low. But even though he has been effective in tough spots, clearly he seems to have lost control of the outing — and his fastball for some reason.
End 4th, Red Sox 5-1: After an awful third inning, where the Sox grabbed a commanding 5-1 lead, Brian Duensing settled himself in on the mound.
Mike Aviles was able to get his second single of the night, a solid return for the shortstop, but an Ellsbury flyout and a Pedroia double play ended any and all threats.
Now, Doubront needs to maintain his efficient pitch count and hopefully he can head into the later innings with a chance to keep the Sox ahead.
Mid 4th, Red Sox 5-1: Morneau tried to atone for his error with a single to lead off the fourth, but no dice for the Twinkies.
Doubront has now allowed a base runner in each of the four innings, but he's also settled down considerably as the innings go on.
That was a quick inning too, with just 12 pitches for the left-hander. It should help keep Doubront in this — barring a collapse — until at least the sixth inning.
End 3rd, Red Sox 5-1: It's alive.
Carl Crawford is absolutely mashing the Twins in this one. After struggling with lefties for many of his games this season, Crawford has made Duensing pay with a double and now a home run, and add three RBIs to that total on the night.
The homer was almost for naught, as Justin Morneau had a shot at putting the inning away without any further damage, but a botched popup gave Carl the chance to come through in a big way.
A trio of hits to lead off the third gives the Red Sox their first lead of the series.
Dustin Pedroia started things off with a single, and some solid swings from Ross and Gonzo ended up bringing Dusty Twosacks all the way around.
Mid 3rd, 1-1: Doubront is cruising, and that can only mean good things for the Sox.
Douby walked Mauer on a 3-2 count — tough break — but was able to get Willingham to ground into a 1-4-3 double play and end any chances of a threat.
He has thrown 52 pitches over three innings, but at this pace he should still make it into the sixth, at least let's hope.
End 2nd, 1-1: Hey there, Carl!
It looks like that drop in the order may be just what Crawford needed to rediscover his stroke. He was just 1-for-12 in the last three games, but worked his way into a double down the right field line in the second.
Kelly Shoppach turned on the left-hander, Duensing — shocker — and pushed Crawford around to tie this game at 1-1.
Crawford has struggled terribly against left-handed pitching since his return, seeming unable to hit anything on the outer half of the plate. But taking Duensing for a ride and ultimately coming around to tie the game just goes to show his worth.
Mid 2nd, Twins 1-0: A leadoff double off the Monster by Justin Morneau ultimately paid off for Minnesota, as the Twins were able to bring him around for 1-0 lead.
Darin Mastroianni was the one to get to Doubront, hitting a single up the middle off the glove of Mike Aviles. Aviles, who missed nearly a week with turf toe, looked a bit rusty while playing in on the play and just couldn't make the putout and keep Morneau at third.
Fortunately, Doubront seems to be settling in, limiting Minny to just the one run. He looks comfortable, especially with his fastball which he's locating very accurately and has some life on in the early innings.
End 1st, 0-0: The lineup shake up appears to be working early on for the Red Sox. Although there's no proof on the scoreboard.
Ellsbury led off the night with an infield single, and Pedroia's return to his customary No. 2 spot was met with great return. Pedey blasted a single to left, sending Ells all the way to third without an out in the inning.
But a Ross flyout, which seems to be coming a trend, and a gruesome double-play ball from Gonzalez ended any hopes of an early lead for Boston.
Mid 1st Inning, 0-0: A strange first inning for Doubront ends.
After a quick groundout from Denard Span, both Ben Revere and Joe Mauer singled to give the Twins a threat.
But an attempted double steal got Mauer thrown out by about a mile, and an amazing running grab in deep center field from Ellsbury stranded the runner at third.
Doubront luckily go out of that threat unscathed, but if he doesn't get his stuff down, then Minnesota will find themselves on the board in no time.
7:05 p.m.: First pitch upcoming, ready for this one?
The Doubrontasauras is on the hill, and he'll need to give a pretty epic effort to get the Sox back to their much-needed winning ways. Otherwise…. well, let's not go there just yet.
6:59 p.m.: A special ceremony commemorates the 2012 inductees into the Red Sox Hall of Fame.
The list of inductees include Curt Schilling, Ellis Burks, Joe Dobson, Hubert "Dutch" Leonard — who recorded 0.96 ERA in 1913 — and 1986 ALCS MVP Marty Barrett.
Longtime groundskeeper Joe Mooney and former Red Sox owner John I. Taylor (1904-1911) and gave the team their hallowed nickname "the Red Sox."
Tune into NESN to catch all the Hall of Famers recognized on the field at Fenway.
6:33 p.m.: David Ortiz is eligible to come off the 15-day DL, but it looks like he'll be out of the Red Sox lineup for at least a few more days.
Big Papi was running and doing agility drills on Thursday, and on Friday he continued taking batting practice and doing a little more rehab.
Bobby Valentine explained that Ortiz will likely miss the weekend series against Minnesota, but that the big slugger is making some big strides toward a return, according to WEEI's Alex Speier.
"Progressing normally towards a complete recovery," Valentine said of Ortiz. "I try not to put deadlines on things. [He's] pretty close [to a return], though."
6:14 p.m.: So, the Dodgers must have become Phillie phanatics or something, because it turns out they're the ones that claimed Cliff Lee.
While the mystery team remained unnamed for a few hours, it turns out the same team that acquired both Shane Victorino and, more recently, Joe Blanton were the winning bidders on the high-priced lefty.
Still though, it looks fairly unlikely that Lee will be heading anywhere as the Phillies will be hard pressed to work out a deal with LA, especially after the Dodgers sent out nearly their entire farm system in chase of the World Series.
Source: #Dodgers awarded the claiming rights on Cliff Lee. It remains unlikely that they ultimately obtain him from #Phillies. @mlbonfox
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) August 3, 2012
5:40 p.m.: Cliff Lee didn't make it through the waiver wire, but don't expect that means he'll be changing jerseys anytime soon.
While the Phillies placed Lee on waivers as of Wednesday, it turns out that at least one team looked to acquire the All-Star pitcher, making a claim on him and his $90 million contract.
Red Sox fans shouldn't get their hopes up though, as Rob Bradford of WEEI is reporting that sources have indicated that the Red Sox were not the team to claim the left-hander.
Who was the gutsy team? That still remains to be learned, but for now take a look at some tweets explaining out the ongoing situation.
Cliff lee did NOT clear waivers
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) August 3, 2012
Source: Red Sox were not team that claimed Cliff Lee
— Rob Bradford (@bradfo) August 3, 2012
wont be easy for claiming team to acquire cliff lee. #phillies sought to pay no $ & get big prospect in pre-deadline talks
— Jon Heyman (@JonHeymanCBS) August 3, 2012
5:03 p.m.: When Josh Beckett couldn't throw a scheduled side session on Thursday because of back spasms, his upcoming start on Sunday immediately went into question.
That issue was resolved fairly quickly on Friday, though, as Franklin Morales confirmed that he'd be taking Beckett's place in the rotation on Sunday against the Twins.
Morales was strong as a member of the rotation during his five-start stint earlier in the season. But since falling back into his bullpen role, he's fallen into a bit of a rut allowing three earned runs over 5 2/3 innings of relief.
All signs have indicated that Morales belongs in the rotation rather than the bullpen long term. But without any significant falter from any of the current starters — looking at you Aaron Cook — Morales could be relegated to simply spot start duty the rest of the season.
4:18 p.m.: Red Sox shortstop Mike Aviles hasn't played almost a week, but he'll make his return to the Boston lineup on Friday night for the second of four with the Minnesota Twins.
It's a good time for Aviles to return, as he's the only member of the Red Sox with more than eight career at-bats against Twins starter Brian Duensing. Aviles is hitting .286 (4-for-14) with a pair of RBIs in his career against the 29-year-old pitcher.
Check out the lineups for both teams, below.
Red Sox
Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
Cody Ross, RF
Adrian Gonzalez, 1B
Ryan Lavarnway, DH
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Carl Crawford, LF
Kelly Shoppach, C
Mike Aviles, SS
Felix Doubront, LHP
Twins
Denard Span, CF
Ben Revere, RF
Joe Mauer, C
Josh Willingham, DH
Justin Morneau, 1B
Danny Valencia, 3B
Darin Mastroianni, LF
Brian Dozier, SS
Jamey Carroll, 2B
Brian Duensing, LHP
8 a.m.: The offense was nonexistent for the Red Sox on Thursday night, but that should change as they continue on into their four-game set with the Twins.
Adrian Gonzalez was the only source of any sort of offense in the 5-0 loss, getting a pair of hits and walking once to at least give Boston a shot. But the rest of the lineup struggled to muster up any sort of productivity, which could be cause for concern moving forward in August.
Have no fear, though. Felix Doubront is on the mound on Friday. And after an impressive performance in New York on Sunday, he'll be looking to further cement his place as a permanent member of this Red Sox rotation. Brian Duensing takes the hill for Minnesota, looking to lock down just his third win of the season.
Tune into NESN at 6 p.m. for the Red Sox pregame show, getting you caught up with all the latest info and analysis on your hometown team. First pitch is at 7:05 p.m., so keep with the live blog for all your need-to-know info.
