It was 0-0 through nine innings in Boston this afternoon, as neither Kyle Gibson nor John Lackey were giving an inch to opposing hitters. Then the 10th inning happened.
In the top of the 10th Chris Parmelee launched a solo shot off Koji Uehara to make it 1-0. In the bottom, however, the Sox struck back: David Ortiz homered to right field off Casey Fien. Then, three pitches later, Mike Napoli went deep to win the game.
It was just the latest abuse the Twins have taken at Ortiz’s hands. Ortiz is now hitting .336/.424/.677 with 20 homers in 264 plate appearances against his former team.
The Sox have now won three in a row. All low-scoring affairs against Minnesota. Blip or turning point? We’ll let hindsight determine that in a few weeks while trying to pass it off as analysis.