Twins at Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are back to 40 games over .500 and continue to ride the hot bats of All-Stars Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez. The pair of sluggers will try to lead the Red Sox to another series win when they host the Minnesota Twins in the finale of a four-game set on Sunday.
Betts provided the heroics with a walk-off blast in Friday's 4-3 triumph and followed it up with a pair of RBI doubles in Saturday's 10-4 victory to increase his major league-leading batting average and slugging percentage marks to .346 and .666, respectively. Martinez leads the majors in home runs and RBIs and provided the go-ahead blast with his 32nd homer in the fifth inning for Boston (73-33) on Saturday, bringing his RBI total to 86. The Twins already entered seller mode with a pair of trades on Friday and could be in for more with second baseman Brian Dozier and right-hander Lance Lynn reportedly on the block. Right-hander Jose Berrios figures to stick around as part of the rebuild and takes the mound for Minnesota on Sunday opposite Boston's latest trade acquisition, right-hander Nathan Eovaldi.
TV: 1:05 p.m. ET, FS North (Minnesota), NESN (Boston)
PITCHING MATCHUP: Twins RH Jose Berrios (10-7, 3.48 ERA) vs. Red Sox RH Nathan Eovaldi (3-4, 4.26)
Berrios dominated in his first outing after the All-Star break on Tuesday, surrendering four hits in seven scoreless innings while striking out nine to earn a win at Toronto. The 24-year-old has posted a quality start in seven of his last nine turns and is 4-2 in that span, including a no-decision against Boston on June 19. Berrios held the Red Sox to one run on five hits in 6 1/3 innings but was gone by the time the Twins pulled out a 6-2 victory.
Eovaldi last pitched for Tampa Bay on July 20, scattering one run and six hits over six innings without factoring in the decision before being acquired by Boston on Wednesday. The 28-year-old, who missed all of 2017 while recovering from Tommy John surgery, became a strong trade target during a three-start stretch bridging June and July in which he allowed two runs in 19 innings. That stretch ended in a disastrous turn at Minnesota on July 13, when Eovaldi was knocked around for eight runs and nine hits in 2 2/3 frames.
WALK-OFFS
1. The Twins recalled 3B Miguel Sano and LHP Gabriel Moya from Triple-A Rochester on Saturday.
2. Red Sox 1B Mitch Moreland (left knee soreness) returned from a two-game absence and went 1-for-5.
3. Boston 3B Rafael Devers (hamstring) is likely to end up on the 10-day disabled list after suffering an injury on Saturday.