Red Sox blanked by Twins in series finale; Hamliton and Walter make debuts

The Boston Red Sox were shut out by the Minnesota Twins 6-0 on Thursday Afternoon after a walkoff loss on Wednesday night in the 10th inning.

With this series, the Red Sox split the current series after winning the first two games which contributed to their 6-game streak that got snapped by the walkoff.

There were multiple roster moves that the team did before the game. Both John Schreiber and Yu Chang were put on the 60-day injured list. Catcher Reese McGwire was put on the 10-day injured list with a right oblique strain that he suffered on Wednesday. That meant the Connor Wong started at catcher and Caleb Hamliton was promoted to the majors from Worcester, and backed up Wong. Caleb Hamliton was claimed off waivers by the Sox last October after making his MLB debut with the Minnesota Twins where he played 22 games.

The Sox also put Alex Verdugo on the beravement list and will be expected to be out until Tuesday. That moved Duvall to right and Duran to center while Yoshida stayed at left field.

Red Sox struggled to get runners on the bases

Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan was able to limit the Sox to three hits and didn’t allow any walks. He retired his first 10 batters before Justin Turner hit a single for the first Sox hit of the game.

Ryan struck out the entire side in the 5th striking out Duvall, Casas and Wong. That was just three of his 9 strikeouts in this game.

The Sox didn’t get another hit until the 7th and 8th innings where Devers and David Hamliton hit singles.

Ryan pitched his first career Complete game, and this was the first time a Twins pitcher pitched a complete game shutout since April 1, 2018 when Jose Berrios pitched a complete game shutout against fellow AL East Baltimore Orioles, and also the first Twins complete game since June 7, 2018 when Berrios also pitched a complete game against the Chicago White Sox.

Red Sox player of the game: Brandon Walter had an impressive MLB debut

Justin Garza made his first career start for the Sox, and it was planned where Brandon Walter would follow him. Shortly before the game Brandon Walter was promoted from Worcester to make his MLB debut. Walter has not been impressive in Worcester with a 6.28 ERA. But, his last two starts he struck out thirteen, so Cora thought that he earned the promotion for Thursday’s game.

Garza pitched the first inning, where he allowed solo homers from Correa and Buxton. Walter entered in the game in the 2nd inning and pitched pretty much the rest of the game until the last out when he was relieved by Joe Jacques.

In the first four innings, Walter allowed four runs including a 2nd homer from Buxton but cooled down to finish the game where he struck out two and walked three.

Red Sox play of the game: David Hamliton gets first MLB hit

Shortstop David Hamliton made his first MLB start after being promoted from Worcester while Pablo Reyes started at second base. Hamliton made his debut on Wednesday as a pinch runner for Yoshida after he walked in the 8th inning. Hamliton never took an at-bat due to being pinch hit by Duvall who was intentially walked in the 10th and then pinch ran by Reyes.

Hamliton got his first career hit off Ryan in the 8th inning, and his parents were proud to watch in the stands and he was the bright spot in the lineup while the rest of the team was struggling.

Hamliton will look to split time at shortstop with Pablo Reyes, which means that Kike Hernandez will not be seeing time at short for the rest of the season, after his recent struggles on defense.

The Red Sox will travel to Chicago to face the White Sox for the weekend series starting on Friday night.