Red Sox clobber Twins 18-5

July 9, BOSTON, MA -- It seems like just a few days ago the Red Sox were 5 games behind the Tampa Bay DEVIL Rays and were sinking fast. Minnesota was just two games behind them for the wild card.

However, the three-game sweep of Minnesota has changed things and hopefully started the Red Sox on their way toward winning the AL East. Manny has finally gotten out of his slump, as he made some adjustments with his body and is hitting as well as ever. Today was their best hitting display of the year.

The triple play that wasn't would have been just what the Twins needed to get out of trouble. When the outs all disappeared, so did Minnesota's chances of avoiding a sweep in Boston.
Dustin Pedroia hit a three-run double as the Red Sox scored seven times in the seventh inning -- all of them after a triple play was taken off the board -- and Boston beat Minnesota 18-5 on Wednesday to complete a three-game sweep.


Jacoby Ellsbury had a career-high four hits and Manny Ramirez, Kevin Youkilis and Sean Casey had three apiece to help Boston set season highs for hits (23) and runs. The Twins loaded the bases in the seventh and failed to score, but they trailed just 7-5 in the bottom half when they appeared to escape a jam on what was initially ruled a triple play.

The Red Sox had runners on second and third when Jason Varitek hit a sinking liner to center and Denard Span slid for the ball, backhanding it and then holding up his glove as if he caught it. The base runners took off and, after the umpires belatedly signaled a catch, Span threw to second to double off Casey. Second baseman Alexi Casilla leisurely threw to third to get Mike Lowell, who had already crossed the plate. (Lowell appeared to have tagged up, but he was rung up anyway.) While the umpires conferred, official scorer Mike Petraglia announced that the play was an 8-4-5 triple play, "for now."

The call was reversed -- correctly, replays confirmed -- and irate Twins manager Ron Gardenhire came out of the dugout for an argument that led to a quick ejection. "I'm not going to tell you guys what I think," said Gardenhire, whose team had won 16 of 18 before coming to Fenway Park. "Every time I say what I say, I get in trouble."

Josh Beckett (9-5) allowed three runs in the first and followed it with four scoreless innings before being chased after two batters in the sixth. He allowed five earned runs and eight hits, giving him his first two-start winning streak since May 3-8.

After the game, Jeff Bailey was packaged off to Pawtucket to make room for Clay Buchholz who will be the starting pitcher on Friday.