Beckett Takes on Twins
Boston slugger Manny Ramirez has used this series against Minnesota to help shake his offensive slump.
Ramirez will be trying to lead the Red Sox to their first sweep of the Twins in nearly three years when the teams wrap up their three-game set at Fenway Park on Wednesday.
Oddsmakers from Sportsbook.com have made Boston -241 money line favorites (MLB Odds) for tonight’s game, the over/under has been set at 9 total runs (Matchup). Current public betting information shows that 74% of bets for this game have been placed on Boston -241 (View MLB Bet Percentages).
Ramirez connected for a game-tying, two-run homer as part of a four-run eighth as the Red Sox (54-39) rallied to beat Minnesota 6-5 on Tuesday. Ramirez singled in the only run a night earlier in Boston’s 1-0 series-opening win.
His heroics have put the Red Sox on the verge of their first sweep of the Twins (50-40) since taking three games at Fenway July 29-31, 2005.
Ramirez is 3-for-8 over the last two games after entering the series in a 2-for-19 slump.
The All-Star slugger has struggled somewhat in the first half this season – he is batting .280 after hitting at least .292 in each of the last 13 seasons. However, his 17 homers are only three shy of his total from last season.
Rookie Brandon Moss drove in the go-ahead run Tuesday for the Red Sox, who have won four of six.
"We had a terrific inning, a lot of good things happened," manager Terry Francona said. "Last night was what we needed, but sometimes you need a home run."
The Twins, who snapped a 13-inning scoreless drought with a three-run fourth, had won five straight coming into this series. Denard Span went 2-for-3 with an RBI Tuesday and has hit .391 in eight straight starts in place of the injured Michael Cuddyer.
"It’s a tough loss, one we thought we had," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We made a lot of mistakes, they blooped one to left, blooped one to right and next thing you know Manny hits one into the seats."
Minnesota got 6 2-3 strong innings from Nick Blackburn, the latest in a string of solid outings from its starters. The Twins’ rotation is 15-2 with a 2.99 ERA over the last 23 games.
Livan Hernandez (9-5, 5.18 ERA) will try to keep that going in the series finale.
He gave up three runs in six innings to win 12-3 over Cleveland on Friday. The start was the fourth straight at home for the veteran right-hander, who is 2-4 with a 7.00 ERA in eight road outings.
Hernandez is 1-2 with a 9.00 ERA in three career starts against the Red Sox. However, the win came on May 12, when he yielded three runs and 10 hits in six innings of a 7-3 victory at the Metrodome.
Boston counters with Josh Beckett (8-5, 3.70), who gave up three runs in six innings of Friday’s 6-4 win at Yankee Stadium – his first victory in three starts and the ninth straight outing in which he has gone at least six innings.
"I don’t know that I really had a groove today," he told Boston’s official Web site. "It was just one of those deals. I made pitches when I had to."
The right-hander, baseball’s only 20-game winner last season, lost 2-1 to Arizona on June 23 in his last home start after going 4-0 in his first five.
He is 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA in his two previous starts against the Twins.
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