Boston Red Sox return to Fenway Park to face Minnesota Twins

The Boston Red Sox return home for a 10-game home stand, starting off with four games against the Minnesota Twins.

Mother Nature reared her head on Wednesday night in Baltimore, getting in the way of what promised to be a high-scoring affair for the Boston Red Sox.

The Red Sox scored five runs through 1.2 innings against the Baltimore Orioles. Andrew Benintendi, J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts all went deep as Boston went up 5-0. The rain did not relent, however, and the game was ultimately postponed.

Boston and Baltimore had split the first two games of the series.

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The Red Sox (71-32) are 3-2 since coming back from the all-star break as they head back to Boston with a 5.5 game lead over the New York Yankees. The Yankees come to town at the end of the home stand, which begins Thursday against the Minnesota Twins.

Boston has lost two of three to the Twins in 2018.

Benintendi has picked up where he left off prior to the All-Star game. The outfielder is 7-17 in the last five games with a double, triple, and four RBI. In July, he is hitting .397 with 8 RBI and 15 runs.

Martinez hit what would have been his 32nd home run on Wednesday night. Instead, he sits at 31 and his 85 RBI’s lead the team.

The Twins (47-53) are arriving fresh off a three-game sweep over the Toronto Blue Jays. They are 7.5 games back in the American League Central and will have to get on a roll to repeat last season’s surprise playoff appearance.

Left fielder Eddie Rosario leads the team in home runs (19) and batting average (.310). His 62 RBI’s are second to Eduardo Escobar‘s 63.

The Twins average 4.6 runs per game and are in the middle of the American League in most batting categories.

Series probable starting pitchers

Brian Johnson (1-3, 3.81 ERA) starts things off against Kyle Gibson (4-7, 3.57 ERA).

Johnson’s last four outings have been consistent, throwing 18.1 innings while allowing only five earned runs. Gibson picked up the lone loss against Boston this season, pitching six innings while giving up seven hits and two earned runs.

Friday will see Chris Sale (11-4, 2.13 ERA, 197 K’s) face-off against Lance Lynn (7-8, 5.23 ERA).

Sale has been on a roll. In his last eight starts, Sale has pitched 54.1 innings and allowed only five earned runs while striking out 87.

Saturday’s matchup pits Rick Porcello (12-4, 3.93 ERA) against Jake Odorizzi (4-6, 4.37 ERA)

Porcello picked up the lone win against the Twins back in June. Odorizzi has allowed five hits or less in four of his last five starts, allowing only three earned runs in those four outings.

Closing out the series, fans will tentatively see the Boston debut of newly acquired pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (3-4, 4.26 ERA). Eovaldi will hopefully bring stability to the back end of the rotation, but was roughed up in his one start against the Twins in 2018. He allowed nine hits and eight runs in 2.2 innings in a July 13 appearance.

His opponent on the mound will be Jose Berrios (10-7, 3.48 ERA). He went 6.1 innings and allowed only one run in a victory over Boston back in June.

Boston should be able to snag a series win here, but they cannot overlook the Twins. Especially with the Yankees looming on the horizon.