Just when it looked like Minnesota's miscues were going to cost the Twins a chance at a series split, they flipped the script.
With the game on the line, the Twins took advantage of mental mistakes and a key fielding error by the Boston Red Sox. That all added up to a big ninth inning for Minnesota, which took Thursday's series finale at Fenway Park by a score of 8-4. In doing so, the Twins return home to Target Field 11 games over .500.
If not for some help from Boston, though, that might not have been the case.
The Red Sox's most egregious mistake Thursday came in the top of the ninth inning. With runners on first and second and nobody out, Twins first baseman Joe Mauer attempted a bunt -- perhaps to move the runners, perhaps to get on base with a hit. Mauer's bunt barely got past home plate, though, and Boston catcher Blake Swihart quickly grabbed it and fired to third.
Swihart's throw was a bit low and got under the glove of third baseman Pablo Sandoval and rolled into left field. That allowed Brian Dozier to score from third as the Twins opened the flood gates.
"I think that was pretty much on his own," Dozier said of Mauer's bunt. "Joe's a guy that he's here, he wants to win. Whatever it takes to get that run across, whether it's sacrificing over, obviously we put pressure on them . . . to make a pretty good play down to Sandoval. Whatever we've got to do to win a game, all 25 guys are doing that, so that's a lot of fun."
Three more runs would score in the ninth inning, including an RBI single by Trevor Plouffe the very next at-bat. Eduardo Escobar later doubled to drive in Mauer, and Plouffe scored on a sacrifice fly by Shane Robinson.
The complexion of that ninth inning could have been much different had Boston recorded the out of Dozier at third. Instead, Minnesota took advantage to score four runs and earn the victory.
The Red Sox had a chance to regain the lead two innings earlier but hurt themselves on the base paths. Hanley Ramirez was caught in a rundown when Plouffe made a play on a grounder hit to third, and Mike Napoli was thrown out at home plate trying to score from first base on a single to the outfield by Xander Bogaerts.
Way back in the second inning, it was Boston capitalizing on a few Twins blunders. The Red Sox scored their first run of the game thanks to a Minnesota error when Plouffe couldn't handle a throw to third by Mauer. Plouffe dropped the ball, which allowed Mookie Betts to score the game's first run.
One batter later, Boston's David Ortiz hit what appeared to be a routine ground ball to shortstop. But the Twins' Eduardo Escobar let the ball roll under his glove to score another run. Just like that, Tommy Milone was the victim of two earned runs in his first start since being recalled from Triple-A Rochester.
"It wasn't a pretty game for either team," said Twins manager Paul Molitor. "Our second inning there, when we just compounded our problems by not executing, it's going to happen."
Milone did wind up surrendering a pair of solo homers as Minnesota fell behind 4-0. A Twins rally made it a 4-all game -- including the tying hit by catcher Kurt Suzuki -- before a few late-inning gaffes by Boston opened the door for Minnesota to steal the game and split the series.
Now the Twins head back to Minneapolis to host a Milwaukee Brewers team that currently has the worst record in baseball. And Minnesota does so with a good taste in its mouth after manufacturing a win at Fenway Park.
"That's what we have to do. We have to take it one at-bat at a time, keep grinding, do all the little things right," said Hunter, whose three-run homer earlier in the game was his 200th in a Twins uniform. "I had a base-running blunder earlier in the game and I tried to make up for it with the three-run home run. We just tried to stay in there."
FOX Sports North's Jamie Hersch contributed to this report.
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