By Brian Hall
MINNEAPOLIS — Rafael Devers homered for the fourth straight game and the streaking Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins 4-2 on a snowy Tuesday afternoon in a series opener moved back following the fatal police shooting of a Black man in a nearby suburb.
Hunter Renfroe hit a solo homer and Bobby Dalbec added a pair of RBI doubles as Boston won its seventh in a row after losing its first three games of the season.
Monday’s game was postponed due to safety and sensitivity concerns in the Twin Cities after the police shooting a day earlier of Daunte Wright during a traffic stop. The Twins held a moment of silence for Wright prior to Tuesday’s game.
Snow flurries fell for most of the game and it was 33 degrees for the first pitch. That made for the third-coldest start at Target Field, the record being 27 degrees on April 7, 2018.
Adam Ottavino (1-0) earned the win with a scoreless inning of relief. Matt Barnes pitched a perfect ninth for his first save of the season.
Randy Dobnak (0-2) took the loss for Minnesota, which has lost three in a row.
Christian Arroyo led off the eighth against Dobnak with a double and scored on Dalbec’s second double of the game to right field to break a 2-all tie. Arroyo had two hits and scored on both of Dalbec’s doubles.
Devers hit a long home run in the ninth off Jorge Alcala. Devers started the season 0 for 13 but is 9 for 22 (.409) since — he has five home runs and 10 RBI in his last four games.
RESCHEDULED
Monday’s postponement will be made up as part of a traditional doubleheader on Wednesday. The first game will start at its regularly scheduled time of 1:10 p.m.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Twins: Nelson Cruz was scratched from the lineup before the game with a non-COVID-19-related illness.
UP NEXT
Minnesota will have RHP Kenta Maeda (1-0, 2.61 ERA) start the first game of Wednesday’s doubleheader. RHP Nathan Eovaldi (1-1, 1.46) will start for Boston. The second game features José Berríos (2-0, 1.54) for the Twins against Eduardo Rodriguez (1-0, 5.40) for the Red Sox.
*Courtesy Associated Press
