Red Sox 12, Twins 5
David Ortiz homered twice and drove in six as visiting Boston pounded Minnesota en route to its fourth straight victory.
Daniel Nava homered and drove in three and Dustin Pedroia doubled in a run and scored three times for the Red Sox, who had dropped nine of 11 prior to their surge. Craig Breslow (1-0) picked up the win in relief of Ryan Dempster, who walked six and was knocked around for five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Scott Diamond (3-4), who allowed three hits in seven scoreless innings at Boston earlier this month, was tagged for six runs in 4 1/3 frames to suffer the loss. Pedro Florimon drove in two as the Twins lost their fourth in a row.
The Red Sox matched their hit total from last time against Diamond in the first inning alone, with Ortiz belting a high drive out to right-center to stake Dempster to an early 3-0 lead. Florimon singled in a run in the second but Ortiz responded with an RBI single in the third and the Red Sox tacked on three more in the fifth to chase Diamond.
The Twins cut it to 7-5 with a three-run rally in the fifth but Ortiz and Nava each hit a two-run homer in the seventh to spread it back out. Ryan Lavarnway drove in his second run on a sacrifice fly in the ninth to cap the scoring.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Minnesota's Joe Mauer doubled in the fourth to extend his hitting streak to 15 games. … Boston RF Shane Victorino and SS Stephen Drew were each held out due to back injuries. Drew was hurt in Friday’s series opener and Victorino has missed both games. They are both day-to-day. … Everyone in the Red Sox lineup got at least one hit except for Pedro Ciriaco, who went 0-for-5 in place of Drew.