Boston (27-20) at Minnesota (24-24)

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bos

Ellsbury riding impressive hit streak

Thor Nystrom / Special to MLB.com
Jacoby Ellsbury, who boasts an 18-game hitting streak from a year ago, heads into Thursday's series finale in Minnesota on a career-long 22-game streak.
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Red Sox probable pitcher

Josh Beckett

  • #19 RHP
  • (4-2) 5.01 ERA 51 SO
The ace righty continued his recent string of sharp outings on Saturday at Fenway Park, logging a season-high eight innings in a no-decision against the Mets. After allowing a first-inning RBI single, Beckett yielded nothing further, striking out five while dominating a makeshift New York lineup to the tune of one run on five hits. In three career starts against the Twins, Beckett is 2-1 with a 4.74 ERA.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 93-64 3.83 1244.1 395 1182 .243
Season 4-2 5.01 55.2 24 51 .274
May 2-0 2.67 27.0 8 20 .240

Series at a Glance

Standings - 05/28/2009 W L PCT GB Home Away
Boston Red Sox (AL East) 27 20 .574 - 17-6 10-14
Minnesota Twins (AL Central) 24 24 .500 3.5 19-10 5-14
Stats - 05/28/2009 AVG R HR RBI SB SO ERA IP H BB SO
BOS .276 250 53 239 36 334 4.54 418.1 440 171 339
MIN .278 252 54 237 30 307 4.85 425.1 453 133 291
min

Swarzak set for excellent encore

Tyler Mason / MLB.com
Twins pitcher Anthony Swarzak still has the lineup card from his first career start last week sitting in his locker.
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Twins probable pitcher

Anthony Swarzak

  • #51 RHP
  • (1-0) 0.00 ERA 3 SO
Filling in for the injured Glen Perkins against the Brewers on Saturday, Swarzak dazzled in his Major League debut, pitching seven scoreless innings for his first win. He scattered five hits, working out of a jam in the sixth inning. Fighting nerves in front of 40,547 at the Metrodome, Swarzak seemed to gain more confidence as the game went on. His performance marked the first time in Twins history that a pitcher went seven scoreless innings in his Major League debut.
  W-L ERA IP BB SO AVG
Career 1-0 0.00 7.0 2 3 .200
Season 1-0 0.00 7.0 2 3 .200
May 1-0 0.00 7.0 2 3 .200

Red Sox hitters vs Anthony Swarzak

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Anderson, Brian - - - - - - - -
Bates, Aaron - - - - .533 15 1 3
Brown, Dusty - - - - .000 2 0 1
Drew, J.D. - - - - .000 2 0 0
Ellsbury, Jacoby - - - - .000 3 0 0
Hermida, Jeremy - - - - - - - -
Iglesias, Jose - - - - - - - -
Kotchman, Casey - - - - - - - -
Lowell, Mike - - - - .000 3 0 0
Lowrie, Jed - - - - .000 4 0 0
Martinez, Victor - - - - .333 3 0 1
Ortiz, David - - - - .333 3 0 0
Pedroia, Dustin - - - - .000 3 0 0
Reddick, Josh - - - - - - - -
Varitek, Jason - - - - .667 3 2 2
Wagner, Mark - - - - .000 5 0 0
Youkilis, Kevin - - - - 1.000 1 0 0

Twins hitters vs Josh Beckett

  2009 2004-2008
Hitter AVG AB HR RBI AVG AB HR RBI
Butera, Drew - - - - - - - -
Casilla, Alexi - - - - .333 3 0 0
Cuddyer, Michael - - - - .167 6 1 1
De Los Santos, Estarlin - - - - - - - -
Hardy, J.J. - - - - .500 6 1 3
Harris, Brendan - - - - .375 8 0 2
Hughes, Luke - - - - - - - -
Kubel, Jason - - - - .222 9 1 2
Mauer, Joe - - - - .375 8 0 1
Morales, Jose - - - - - - - -
Morneau, Justin - - - - .273 11 1 2
Plouffe, Trevor - - - - - - - -
Pridie, Jason - - - - - - - -
Punto, Nick - - - - .375 8 0 0
Ramos, Wilson - - - - - - - -
Span, Denard - - - - .000 4 0 0
Tolbert, Matt - - - - .333 3 0 0
Tolleson, Steven - - - - - - - -
Valencia, Danny - - - - - - - -
Young, Delmon - - - - .357 14 0 1

Red Sox receive Tek-nical support (28-20) (24-25)

Red Sox 3, Twins 1

Captain's jacks

Thor Nystrom / Special to MLB.com
A game-tying solo home run by Jason Varitek got the Red Sox on the board in the fifth, and the captain's shot in the seventh put 'em ahead. Josh Beckett benefited from his catcher's actions, and not only the homers, as Varitek's defense of the starter led to an ejection.

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Series at a Glance

 
Jason Varitek rounds the bases after his home run on Thursday. (AP)

This means Swar

Tyler Mason / MLB.com
Making his presence felt after missing three games, Joe Crede blasted a solo homer in the second. But Anthony Swarzak, whose only blemishes came against Jason Varitek, wasn't provided enough support, and a questionable play at the plate gave the Red Sox an edge.
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Red Sox 3, Twins 1

Boston AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Ellsbury, CF 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .302
Pedroia, 2B 3 0 0 1 0 0 1 .333
Drew, J, RF 3 0 0 0 1 0 1 .252
Youkilis, 1B 2 0 1 0 2 0 0 .375
Lowell, 3B 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 .303
Ortiz, D, DH 4 0 1 0 0 2 1 .194
Varitek, C 3 2 2 2 0 1 1 .248
  Kottaras, G, C 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .200
Bailey, J, LF 4 1 1 0 0 0 2 .188
Lugo, SS 3 0 0 0 1 0 2 .260
Totals 30 3 6 3 4 3 13  

BATTING
2B: Bailey, J (3, Swarzak, A).
HR: Varitek 2 (10, 5th inning off Swarzak, A, 0 on, 0 out; 7th inning off Swarzak, A, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Youkilis; Ortiz, D; Varitek 8; Kottaras, G; Bailey, J 2.
RBI: Varitek 2 (22), Pedroia (17).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Lowell.
SF: Pedroia.
GIDP: Lowell; Bailey, J.
Team RISP: 0-for-2.
Team LOB: 6.

FIELDING
DP: (Pedroia-Lugo-Youkilis).
 
Minnesota AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Span, CF 3 0 0 0 0 3 0 .311
Mauer, DH-C 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .407
Morneau, 1B 3 0 1 0 1 1 1 .342
Kubel, RF 4 0 0 0 0 2 2 .331
Crede, 3B 4 1 1 1 0 1 0 .240
Harris, B, SS 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 .274
Young, D, LF 3 0 0 0 1 1 2 .245
Redmond, M, C 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 .250
  Henn, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  a-Cuddyer, PH 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 .284
  Ayala, P 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000
  b-Buscher, PH 1 0 0 0 0 1 1 .183
Tolbert, 2B 3 0 1 0 0 0 2 .200
Totals 30 1 5 1 4 10 11  

a-Walked for Henn in the 7th. b-Struck out for Ayala in the 9th.

BATTING
2B: Harris, B (5, Beckett).
HR: Crede (9, 2nd inning off Beckett, 0 on, 1 out).
TB: Morneau; Crede 4; Harris, B 3; Tolbert.
RBI: Crede (22).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Morneau; Tolbert; Buscher.
S: Span.
GIDP: Redmond, M.
Team RISP: 0-for-6.
Team LOB: 7.

FIELDING
DP: 2 (Harris, B-Tolbert-Morneau, Crede-Tolbert-Morneau).
 
Boston IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Beckett (W, 5-2) 7.0 3 1 1 4 8 1 4.60
Okajima (H, 8) 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.57
Papelbon (S, 13) 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 2.45
 
Minnesota IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Swarzak, A (L, 1-1) 6.0 5 3 3 4 3 2 2.08
Crain 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 7.42
Henn 0.2 0 0 0 0 0 0 4.15
Ayala 2.0 1 0 0 0 0 0 4.37

Swarzak, A pitched to 2 batters in the 7th.

HBP: Ellsbury (by Henn).
Pitches-strikes: Beckett 111-69, Okajima 15-10, Papelbon 19-13, Swarzak, A 103-63, Crain 6-3, Henn 11-6, Ayala 14-12.
Groundouts-flyouts: Beckett 9-4, Okajima 1-1, Papelbon 0-2, Swarzak, A 9-6, Crain 0-1, Henn 1-1, Ayala 3-3.
Batters faced: Beckett 27, Okajima 4, Papelbon 4, Swarzak, A 26, Crain 1, Henn 3, Ayala 6.
Inherited runners-scored: Crain 1-0, Henn 3-1.
EjectionsMinnesota Twins catcher Mike Redmond ejected by HP umpire Todd Tichenor. (7th); Boston Red Sox Manager Terry Francona ejected by HP umpire Todd Tichenor. (7th); Boston Red Sox catcher Jason Varitek ejected by HP umpire Todd Tichenor. (7th); Minnesota Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire ejected by HP umpire Todd Tichenor. (7th).
Umpires: HP: Todd Tichenor. 1B: Jerry Layne. 2B: Tony Randazzo. 3B: Chris Guccione.
Weather: 68 degrees, dome.
Wind: Indoors.
T: 2:56.
Att: 23,958.
May 28, 2009

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner