Twins at Red Sox
A rare loss away from home snapped a three-game winning streak for the Minnesota Twins and dropped them out of first place in the American League Central. Minnesota hopes the return of Hector Santiago will stabilize its starting rotation as it continues its 11-game road trip against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.
Owners of the second-best road record in the majors after opening the lengthy trek with a three-game sweep in Cleveland, the Twins managed only four hits in Monday's 4-1 loss to Boston and fell to 23-10 away from home. Backup catcher Chris Gimenez homered for his second straight game and matched his career high of five for the Twins, who send Santiago to the mound for the first time since June 6. Boston's Mitch Moreland went deep for the third consecutive contest to move into a tie with Mookie Betts for the team lead with 12 blasts. Moreland also lifted a sacrifice fly in the series opener and is 7-for-15 with seven RBIs in four games against Minnesota this season.
TV: 7:10 p.m. ET, FSN North (Minnesota), NESN (Boston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins LH Héctor Santiago (4-6, 5.26 ERA) vs. Red Sox LH Drew Pomeranz (6-4, 4.07)
Santiago returns to the rotation after spending three weeks on the disabled list with a sore throwing shoulder. He was off to a strong 4-1 start to the season but is 0-5 over his last seven appearances and was pounded for 11 runs over 8 2/3 innings in his last two turns. Xander Bogaerts is 6-for-11 against Santiago, who is 3-3 with a 3.05 ERA versus the Red Sox.
Pomeranz is coming off a pair of no-decisions despite recording quality starts at Kansas City and Houston, tossing 6 1/3 innings in each while giving up a total of three runs. Pomeranz has made half of his 14 starts away from home and sports an ERA (3.32) that is 1 1/2 runs lower than his mark at Fenway Park. Pomeranz is having his issues against left-handed hitters, who are batting .357 against him.
WALK-OFFS
1. Red Sox 3B Tzu-Wei Lin singled in his major-league debut, becoming the sixth player to start a game for the team at third this year.
2. Twins CF Byron Buxton is 1-for-17 with eight strikeouts over his last five contests.
3. Red Sox DH Hanley Ramirez sat out Monday's game after getting hit on the left knee Sunday and is listed as day-to-day.