Twins wait out rain delay, hold off Red Sox to even set

Kody Clemens hit a two-run home run in the sixth inning, and the visiting Minnesota Twins held on for a 4-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Saturday to knot the three-game series at a game apiece.

Minnesota was outhit 12-10, with Byron Buxton, Ryan Jeffers and Harrison Bader each recording two.

The late-game relief trio of Griffin Jax, Cole Sands and Jhoan Duran pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings to clinch a win for Bailey Ober (4-1), who struck out six and worked around seven hits in six innings of one-run ball. Duran recorded his third save of the season despite Ceddanne Rafaela hitting a leadoff single in the ninth.

Boston left 10 on base — including two in both the sixth and ninth innings — and went 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position. Leadoff hitter Jarren Duran went 2-for-5 with a double, triple, RBI and two runs, while Rafael Devers (two RBIs) and Romy Gonzalez each had three hits.

The hosts broke the scoreless stalemate in the third, as Jarren Duran’s two-out double into the right field corner set the stage for the first run. He then reached third on a misplayed pickoff attempt and scored when Devers ripped a line single up the middle.

Minnesota knotted the score in the fourth after Brooks Lee’s one-out double moved Carlos Correa — who initially reached on a double play ball that was unable to be turned — to third base and a Ty France grounder scored him.

An inning after surrendering the game-tying run, Red Sox rookie Hunter Dobbins (2-1) got out of a bases-loaded jam unscathed when he induced an inning-ending flyout from Correa.

The young Boston starter also benefited from some strong defense in the early innings, including shortstop Trevor Story’s diving catch on a Clemens liner following a Jeffers two-out double in the second.

However, the Twins ended Dobbins’ day while breaking the game open in a three-run sixth. After France was hit by a pitch, Clemens socked a two-out, two-run homer out to right with his father, former Red Sox star Roger Clemens, in attendance. A Bader single and Christian Vasquez walk restarted the offense before Trevor Larnach knocked an RBI single to left for insurance.

The Red Sox trimmed the deficit to 4-3 in the seventh following a one-hour, 12-minute rain delay. Jarren Duran sparked the rally with an RBI triple that rolled to the right-center field wall, scoring Connor Wong, who was hit by a pitch to begin the inning.

Dobbins allowed four runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media