Lefty Jon Lester surrendered three hits and issued two walks as part of a four-run first inning as the Minnesota Twins rebounded from yesterday’s loss with a 5-0 defeat of the Red Sox today in Ft Myers.
The Sox wasted a solid scoring opportunity in the top of the first inning. CF Mike Cameron drew a walk off RHP Carl Pavano to open the game but was thrown out trying to steal second base. The caught-stealing proved costly when Victor Martinez doubled to left field one out later.
Minnesota scored four times off Lester before an out was ever recorded in the bottom of the inning. Twins CF Denard Span singled in front of back-to-back walks to 2B Orlando Hudson and C Joe Mauer. With the bases loaded, Twins 1B Justin Morneau laced a double into right field to give the bad guys an early 2-0 lead. RF Michael Cuddyer singled home Mauer and Delmon Young drove a sac fly into right field to extend the Twins lead to 4-0.
Both pitching staffs were in control throughout the early part of the game. Randor Bierd (1 IP), Tim Wakefield (2 IP) and Fernando Cabrera (1 IP) combined for four scoreless innings for the Sox, allowing just a hit and a walk.
At the same time, Pavano, Jon Rauch, Matt Guerrier, and Clay Condrey were busy shutting the Red Sox down.
The Twins scored a run off southpaw Dustin Richardson in the bottom of the sixth inning to account for the final score of 5-0.
After the game, Lester said: “I made a couple of good pitches, I’ll build on those. It’s the first (game). We’ve got a lot more. There were some jitters and some excitement there, and that’s going to throw off your timing and your rhythm, too.”
Of his two-inning affair in which he surrendered just one hit, Wakefield said: “I felt really good. It felt like my timing was there, rhythm was good. I was able to throw a lot of strikes and get outs quickly. I’m very pleased.”
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