MINNEAPOLIS _ On the bright side, Kyle Gibson does this every year _ but only once.
Gibson tied his career high with five walks Wednesday, or more than he had issued in his past five starts combined. And against the defending World Series champions, the free passes had a predictable effect: lengthened rallies, higher pitch counts and ultimately, an 9-4 Boston victory to give the Red Sox two out of three games in the series.
Gibson had made cutting down on walks a priority for this season, his final one before free agency, and entered Wednesday's homestand finale with a 7-3 record. But his control eluded him, and the Red Sox tagged him for a pair of three-run innings.
Gibson has walked five batters in a game six times during his career _ once in each of the past six seasons.
Five consecutive batters reached base in the second inning, three on hits plus a pair of walks, and Brock Holt, Michael Chavis and Mookie Betts all drove in runs.
Three innings later, four of the five hitters Gibson faced reached base, ending his start after only 4 1/3 innings, his shortest appearance since April 11, 2018. Xander Bogaerts drove in a run with a double, Holt with a sacrifice fly and Chavis with a single that finally prompted Rocco Baldelli to reluctantly make a pitching change. That left the Twins bullpen, one night after being called upon to provide 11 innings of relief, with nearly five more innings to pick up.
The Red Sox added three more runs in the eighth inning off Sean Poppen, usually a starter at Class AAA Rochester but called up to eat some innings in relief after the Twins' 17-inning victory Tuesday. He delivered in that regard, pitching the final four innings.
The Twins offense staked Gibson to an early lead, then rallied from a deficit to take the lead again. Eddie Rosario drove in a run in the first inning with a two-out single, though that inning might have been bigger had C.J. Cron not been thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on Nelson Cruz's double.
In the third inning, Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez walked Cruz and Miguel Sano, and Luis Arraez turned it into a run with a single.
And the Twins' nightly home run show finally kicked in an inning later. Willians Astudillo, who arrived from Class AAA Rochester only a few hours earlier, crushed a Rodriguez pitch into the bullpen for his third homer of the season.
Then Max Kepler _ the hero of the Twins' lengthy Tuesday victory _ joined in, belting a 405-foot home run into the seats in right field. Kepler jogged around the bases to score his 50th run of the season; it was also the 50th run he has driven in.
But Rodriguez settled down after those early problems, pitching into the seventh inning and mostly kept the Twins off-balance. The big left-hander struck out eight batters in the first six innings, including Sano twice and Jake Cave three times.
