Twins Hold Off Red Sox Despite Late Rally

May 23, 2026

Twins 4, Red Sox 2

The Boston Red Sox lost once again to the Minnesota Twins, 4–2, Saturday afternoon at Fenway Park. In his first start since his stint on the 15-day IL, Taj Bradley notched the win, going five innings and allowing one earned run in the process. Jovani Moran got the loss, allowing two runs in his sole inning.

Red Sox-Twins Game Summary

The Twins got to Moran early, scoring two runs off an Austin Martin RBI double and a sacrifice fly from Josh Bell. They nearly added to it in the third off Brayan Bello, but left the bases loaded in the process.

Mickey Gasper recorded the Red Sox’ first hit of the game in the fourth. He later was driven in via an RBI double from Ceddanne Rafaela. However, Willson Contreras got the wave home and got thrown out by a mile, barreling into Twins catcher Victor Caratini. That resulted in little more than a scuffle with the benches clearing.

After escaping a bases loaded jam in the third unscathed, Bello couldn’t do the same in the fifth. Firstly, Caratini drove in Trevor Larnach with a sacrifice fly to right field, a call upheld through a challenge from Red Sox manager Chad Tracy. Orlando Arcia came up next and hit a ground ball to Bello, that deflected off his glove, scoring Martin from third.

The Red Sox looked to get something going in the seventh, with runners on first and second with no outs. Kendry Rojas, however, had different plans. He fought through the bottom of the lineup to escape without any runs given up.

Andrew Morris came out of the bullpen in the ninth to look for the save. However, there was still some fight in the ninth inning from the Red Sox, as the bottom of the order forced the bases loaded with two outs.

With Isiah Kiner-Falefa up to bat, he walked to force in a run to make it 4–2. Taylor Rogers went in to try and clean up the mess with Jarren Duran up to bat. With a 3–2 count, Duran would strikeout looking to end the game.

What Went Right for the Red Sox

Late Rally

The first eight innings of the game was full of constant struggles from the Red Sox. Even when they did score, it got soured by Contreras getting thrown out. They didn’t give up, and gave themselves a chance to win in the end. They forced full counts and made the Twins pitching staff work for every out.

What Went Wrong for the Red Sox

Offensive Struggles

Outside of Contreras and Rafaela, the offense was less than serviceable. It doesn’t help when numbers six through nine in the batting order combine to go 0-for-9 with three strikeouts. Abreu managed to go 0-for-4 as well. As a team, they also went 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.