Tsuyoshi Nishioka Returns To Twins Following Danny Valencia Trade

It looks like the biggest name that the Minnesota Twins have ever picked up in the Japanese player market will be getting a second shot to stick in Major League Baseball. The Twins announced that they would be putting Tsuyoshi Nishioka into the empty roster spot left after they traded Danny Valencia and they'll be hoping that the Japanese infielder will be able to do some damage this time around with the club:

He broke his leg one week into the 2011 season and wound up batting just .226 with a .278 on-base percentage in 68 games. He looked no better this spring and was among the Twins' first cuts.

Nishioka is a former Japanese batting champion who was given a hefty hunk of change by the Twins when they signed him, so his chance may be extended a bit as long as he doesn't find himself injured once again. If he can barely muster a .230 batting average once again though, he may find himself back in Rochester, and eventually not even on the roster, once again.

To his credit, Nishioka has improved immensely in Triple-A recently, and did well showing the team what he could do in his most recent games:

"If you want to find out something about this guy, now is the time to find out," Twins assistant general manager Rob Antony said. "He had two hard-hit balls [Saturday] and made some nice defensive plays. So they're pleased with what he's done."

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Twins Vs. Red Sox Final Score: Minnesota Falls To Boston In Series Finale, 6-4

The Minnesota Twins came up short on Sunday at Fenway Park, as the Boston Red Sox narrowly avoided a four-game sweep with a 6-4 victory.

Twins starter Nick Blackburn scattered nine hits over five innings to take his sixth loss of the season, while Boston pitcher Franklin Morales, who made just his eighth start of 2012, went six strong innings to move to 3-2 on the season.

Although Minnesota could only muster six hits on the day, a first inning single from Ben Revere extended the speedy outfielder's hitting streak to 19 games. Revere now has nine hits and three steals through five games in the month of August, and remains the single hottest player in manager Ron Gardenhire's lineup. In addition to his stellar offense as of late though, the 24-year-old continues to make tremendous plays in the field, as evidenced by his Willie Mays-esque grab to save a run in the seventh inning (click to animate, via @cjzero):

With late-game comebacks being the norm throughout this entire series, the Twins kept things consistent in the ninth once again by tattooing Boston pitcher Vicente Padilla for three runs on a pair of blasts to the outfield. The first, a solo shot from the bat of Josh Willingham, came on Padilla's very first batter faced, while the second, a two-run shot from Ryan Doumit, came two batters later. Though Boston closer Alfredo Aceves was brought in to quell the storm for his 23rd save, it's clear that Twins hitters are playing as well as they have all season at the moment.

Fresh off this momentum-building series victory, the Twins should have all the confidence in the world heading to Cleveland for a three-game set with an ice cold Indians squad. Ace (too early?) Scott Diamond will get the ball for the Twins in game one as he looks to reach double-digit victories.

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Twins Vs. Red Sox: Danny Valencia Traded To Boston

While the Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox wrap up their three-game series, the two teams exchanged players. Danny Valencia is headed to Boston for a minor leaguer.

#MNTwins acquire Minor League OF Jeremias Pineda. Valencia optioned to Triple-A Pawtucket.

— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) August 5, 2012

Valencia played parts of three seasons with the Twins. He is a career .260 hitter and finished third in rookie of the year voting in 2010. That year he hit .311.

Pineda was in rookie ball for the Red Sox prior to the trade. At 21 years old, he is a career .321 hitter but has shown little power. He has just one minor league home run in 234 at-bats.

Friday was Valencia's final game as a Twin, and he was hitless in four at-bats.

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Twins Vs. Red Sox: Lineups Announced For Sunday

The Minnesota Twins have played the role of spoiler the last two days, handing the Boston Red Sox two crushing losses for their playoff chances. As the Twins go for the sweep, Josh Willingham will return to the lineup.

Here are the full lineups for Sunday:

Minnesota Twins

Twins Vs. Red Sox: Sunday Preview, TV Info And More

After a thrilling 6-4 win Saturday night thanks to Joe Mauer's three-run, ninth inning homer, Nick Blackburn and the Minnesota Twins will go for a three-game sweep at Fenway Sunday afternoon.

The Red Sox have lost four straight games and are two games under .500, while the Twins will hope Blackburn (4-6, 7.43 ERA) can build on his most recent outing against the White Sox, in which he went eight innings and gave up two runs on five hits.

Minnesota should have outfielder Josh Willingham back in the lineup Sunday afternoon after Twins manager Ron Gardenhire gave the 33-year-old a day off Saturday.

Boston will counter with Franklin Morales, who has pitched mostly out of the bullpen this season and has not started since July 13 against Tampa. In five starts earlier this season, the lefty posted a 3.42 ERA.

One interesting statistic of note that bodes well for the Twins, according to MLB.com: the Red Sox are 22-13 against lefties but are a dismal 31-42 against right-handers.

Date/Time: Sunday, August 5, 2012; 1:35 pm ET

TV: Fox Sports-North

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Twins Vs. Red Sox Final Score: Minnesota's Big 9th Inning Caps Off Thrilling 6-4 Comeback Victory

Led by a clutch three-run homer from the bat of Joe Mauer, the Minnesota Twins pulled off an improbable comeback at Fenway Park on Saturday to stun the hometown Red Sox, 6-4.

Minnesota entered the ninth inning trailing by two runs on the scoreboard, as Red Sox closer Alfredo Aceves remained in the game to attempt a rare two-inning save. But a Jamey Carroll single that scored speedster Alexi Casilla quickly set the table for Mauer to walk to the plate with not only a pair of runners on base and a mere one-run deficit, but with just one out remaining for his team. Clutch, indeed.

In addition to Mauer's big night, outfielder Ben Revere singled early in the game to extend his career-best hitting streak to 18 games. The 24-year-old youngster finished 3-for-5 with a stolen base (his 26th) on Saturday to raise his season average to .323, and continues to play the best baseball of his professional career at the moment in the No. 2 spot in Ron Gardenhire's lineup.

The game-winning blast though, which marked Mauer's seventh of 2012, now gives the Twins three straight victories against the Red Sox in the four-game set, and will allow Sunday's starter Nick Blackburn to try his hand for a series sweep.

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Twins Vs. Red Sox: Saturday Preview, TV Info And More

The Twins came away with an extra innings victory on Friday night in the second game of this four-game series against the Red Sox. Minnesota is seeking similar results on Saturday, but hopefully in less time when they attempt to take this series from Boston.

Cole De Vries (2-2, 3.98 ERA) will face Clay Buchholz (9-3, 4.75 ERA) in the pitching duel.

This has to be especially disappointing for the Red Sox, who recently two out of three against the Yankees and Tigers. Both the Twins and Red Sox are in fourth place in their respective American League divisions.

Take a look at the game schedule and broadcast information here:

Date/Time: Saturday, August 4, 7:10 p.m.

TV: FSNO, NESN

Online streaming: MLB.tv

Read more on the Twins at Twinkie Town and SB Nation Minnesota. Head over to Over the Monster and SB Nation Boston for more on the Red Sox. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Twins Vs. Red Sox: Jamey Carroll Gives Minnesota The WIn, 6-5

The Minnesota Twins came back twice on Friday night, a second time in the the tenth inning to secure a 6-5 win over the Boston Red Sox. It was the second win in a row over the Sox at Fenway Park of the four-game series.

Trailing 5-1 when the fifth inning started, when Josh Willingham walked in the first run of a four-run inning. Justin Morneau drove in two with a single, and Danny Valencia capped it off with a single that tied the game. It sent Felix Doubront packing for the Sox.

Five relievers clamped down on Boston. Jamey Carroll hit a single in the top of the tenth that broke the tie. Jared Burton came on in the bottom of the tenth for his fourth save of the season.

The Twins and Red Sox are in action again on Saturday at 7:10 p.m. Eastern from Fenway Park.

Read more on the Twins at Twinkie Town and SB Nation Minnesota. Head over to Over the Monster and SB Nation Boston for more on the Red Sox. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Twins Vs. Red Sox: Minnesota Looks To Continue Playing Spoiler

There's not much of a chance that the Minnesota Twins are going to see the post-season in 2012, but they do have plenty of chances to act as a spoiler for other teams in the American League as the season starts to hit its prime going into August.

They took one of those chances on Thursday when they beat the Boston Red Sox 5-0, and have three more shots now to knock the Sox out of the Wild Card race just a bit more. The loss put the Sox back behind five teams in the wild card race and also put them at .500, fourth in the AL Central.

Game one featured a two-hitter from Samuel Deduno, and the Twins are hoping for another quiet day out of Boston's offense as Brian Duensing (2-6, 4.53 ERA) takes the mound. Duensing, who spent most of the season in the bullpen, is in the lineup replacing the spot that was vacated when Francisco Liriano was traded to the Chicago White Sox right before the trade deadline. Boston will counter with Felix Doubront (10-5, 4.37 ERA).

The game will be at Fenway Park at 7:10 p.m. ET.

Read more on the Twins at Twinkie Town and SB Nation Minnesota. Head over to Over the Monster and SB Nation Boston for more on the Red Sox. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Twins Vs. Red Sox: Minnesota Holds Boston To Two Hits In 5-0 Shutout

The Minnesota Twins bounced back from two consecutive losses to beat the Boston Red Sox 3-0 in the opening game of a four-game weekend series at Fenway Park.

The Twins were able to break through a strong pitching effort by Red Sox left-hander Jon Lester to score three runs. Denard Spann doubled to score a run and then the Ben Revere singled home Spann in the third inning to give the Twins an early lead. A run-scoring double by Ryan Doumit in the sixth inning tacked on another run until shortstop Brian Dozier added some insurance in the ninth inning with a two-run homer off of reliever Alfredo Aceves.

Lester struck out seven in eight innings on the mound but couldn't get any run support to account for his few mistakes. Not only were runs hard to come by for Boston but so were hits. Minnesota starter Samuel Deduno (3-0) gave up just two hits in six innings while getting away with four walks to keep the Red Sox from scoring and earn the win. Relievers Casey Fien and Glen Perkins closed out the win without allowing a base runner let alone a hit. Perkins picked up his sixth save on the season along with three strikeouts in two innings of work.

The two teams will continue the series on Friday night at 7:10 p.m. ET.

Read more on the Twins at Twinkie Town and SB Nation Minnesota. Head over to Over the Monster and SB Nation Boston for more on the Red Sox. Baseball Nation is your source for news and analysis around Major League Baseball.

Twins Vs. Red Sox Preview: Schedule, TV Info And More

The Minnesota Twins and Boston Red Sox begin a four-game series on Thursday at Fenway Park.