Red Sox at Twins
Steven Wright is making life on the road look like a carefree walk in the park. With three consecutive complete-game gems away from home in his rear-view mirror, Wright attempts to continue his torrid stretch on Friday as the Boston Red Sox open a three-game series against the host Minnesota Twins.
While Wright has made himself at home on the road, David Ortiz called Minnesota "home" when he made his major-league debut with the club in 1997 and spent six seasons in a Twins uniform. The retiring slugger will be honored by Minnesota prior to Friday's contest as the Red Sox attempt to prevent their sixth loss in eight games. Minnesota was denied in its bid for its third sweep of the season on Thursday as it fell for the seventh time in 10 contests with a 10-3 setback against Miami. Eduardo Nunez has been scorching of late, recording 10 multi-hit performances in his last 14 games overall while batting .333 (35-for-105) in his career versus Boston.
TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, NESN (Boston), FSN North (Minnesota)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Red Sox RH Steven Wright (6-4, 2.29 ERA) vs. Twins RH Tyler Duffey (2-4, 4.79)
Wright extended his overall winning streak to three contests on Saturday after allowing three runs in five innings of a 6-4 triumph over Toronto. The 31-year-old knuckleballer issued five walks for the second straight outing but has kept the ball in the park in each contest during his winning streak. Wright yielded four runs in six frames of a no-decision versus the Twins in his lone encounter, but Kurt Suzuki went 3-for-3 against the hurler.
Duffey's fortunes have changed in a hurry as the 25-year-old has allowed 20 earned runs and five homers in his last four starts after permitting just five earned runs and two blasts in his previous four. Duffey was taken deep three times on Sunday while yielding four runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings of a no-decision versus Tampa Bay. He did manage to record eight strikeouts, which is one shy of his season high.
WALK-OFFS
1. Twins 2B Brian Dozier is 11-for-33 (.333) with eight RBIs in his last eight contests.
2. Boston 2B Dustin Pedroia carries a 15-game hitting streak into Minnesota, against which he is batting .354 (84-for-237) in his career.
3. The American League Central cellar-dwelling Twins are just 2-11 versus AL East representatives.