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.
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