Twins at Red Sox
If the Boston Red Sox hope to stay in the wild card race in the American League, they are going to need to put together some wins over the teams at the top of the standings. The Red Sox will try to do just that when they host the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins in the opener of a three-game series on Tuesday.
Boston is chasing the Tampa Bay Rays, Cleveland Indians and Oakland Athletics in the race for one of the two AL wild cards and is staring at seven games against the Twins and AL East-leading New York Yankees on the homestand after winning six of eight on the west coast. "For us, nothing is impossible in this game," Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters. "We're very talented. That's the same group that won a World Series. Obviously, it hasn't happened the way we wanted, but I've been saying it all along: There's different ways to get to the World Series. We took the difficult route, and we're ready for it." Minnesota won eight of its last nine games and is 6-1 on its 10-game road trip after easing past the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers. Boston will try to start the homestand off with a win behind former Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello while the Twins counter with righty Randy Dobnak.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, MLB Network, FS North (Minnesota), NESN (Boston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins RH Randy Dobnak (0-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH Rick Porcello (12-10, 5.42)
Dodnak is set to make his first major league start after three scoreless relief appearances totaling eight innings. The 24-year-old scattered 13 hits in those eight frames - the longest of which lasted four innings - and did not issue a walk while notching six strikeouts. Dobnak advanced through three levels of the minors in the Minnesota system prior to being recalled late last month and compiled a 12-4 record with a 2.07 ERA in 24 games - 21 starts.
Porcello is trying to rediscover his Cy Young form and earned a win at Colorado last Tuesday, yielding two runs and eight hits in five innings while striking out five. The New Jersey native surrendered three or fewer runs in each of his last three starts but completed six innings in just one of those turns. One of Porcello's best efforts of the season came against the Twins on June 17, when he scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings to earn a win.
WALK-OFFS
1. Red Sox DH J.D. Martinez went 14-for-31 with six home runs, 18 RBIs and 11 runs scored during the eight-game road trip.
2. Minnesota C Mitch Garver (sore Jaw) left Monday's game and is day-to-day.
3. Boston SS Xander Bogaerts went 13-for-32 with five home runs and five doubles on the road trip.