Trevor Larnach and Matt Wallner both had RBI singles in the 12th inning, helping the Minnesota Twins defeat the Boston Red Sox 4-2 on Friday night.
With this win, their sixth in the last 17 games, the Twins moved ahead of Detroit for the American League’s third and final wild-card spot, especially after the Tigers lost 8-1 to the Baltimore Orioles. The Twins also hold the tiebreaker against the Tigers.
Trevor Story got an RBI single for the Red Sox, who have struggled lately with a record of 7-14 in their last 21 games. They are now five games behind the Twins with eight games remaining and are also trailing the Tigers and Seattle.
Red Sox rookie pitcher Richard Fitts made history by being the first in the team’s history—and only the second in the majors since 1901—to not allow an earned run in his first three big league starts. He gave up five hits, struck out three, and walked one over five shutout innings.
The other pitcher to achieve this was Cincinnati’s Andrew Abbott, who also didn’t give up an earned run in his first three starts last season.
In the 12th inning, with runners on first and third and no outs, Larnach hit a high bounce that touched the top of the glove of the leaping 6-foot-6 Cooper Criswell, scoring the go-ahead run. Wallner then singled through an infield that was pulled in, and Willi Castro added a sacrifice fly.
Scott Blewett (1-0) pitched the 11th inning to earn the win, while Griffin Jax closed the game, getting the final three outs for his 10th save, even though he allowed a run.
“That was incredibly impressive and gutsy, come up with all the words,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “You feel it watching that game. We felt it in the dugout the whole game. It was a very intense, good type game.”
The Red Sox tied a club record by striking out 20 times and left 17 runners on base, while the Twins left 15 on base. “Plenty of chances,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “We didn’t cash in.”
