BOSTON _ For weeks, Derek Shelton studied up on how to handle any situation that might come up. He met with the other Twins coaches on Saturday, and texted with Paul Molitor twice. Heck, he even shaved.
But there's nothing even the most well-prepared substitute manager can do about keeping the Red Sox from erupting.
Staked to a three-run lead, Twins right-hander Jake Odorizzi gave it back in a flurry of extra-base hits on Saturday, and Shelton's managerial record stood at 0-1 after the Red Sox rolled to a 10-4 victory over Minnesota at Fenway Park.
Logan Morrison bashed his 13th home run of the season, Jorge Polanco hit a triple into the center-field triangle for two runs, and Brian Dozier brought him home with a single, putting the Twins in front 4-1 after only three innings. But Odorizzi, facing the team that leads the majors in scoring, could hold that lead only for an inning.
The long and loud hits, a Fenway staple for more than a century, came quickly in the fourth, mostly on plays that were inches from burning into outs. Rafael Devers bounced a ground-rule double into the Red Sox bullpen. Jackie Bradley Jr. clanged a ball off the center-field wall, just out of the reach of Jake Cave's glove, and easily turned it into a triple. And Mookie Betts tied the score with a double into the left-field corner, a line drive that smoked past before a diving Miguel Sano could reach it.
One more extra-base hit broke the tie, and it was a memorable one: J.D. Martinez, who leads the major leagues in home runs, destroyed a 2-0 slider from Odorizzi for his 32nd of the year, a blast that cleared the Monster seats atop the wall in left-center and sailed onto Landsdowne Street beyond.
The Red Sox tacked on plenty more _ Gabriel Moya allowed an Andrew Benintendi single that drove in a run in the sixth, and Boston added a four-run eighth thanks in part to a bases-loaded double by ex-Twin Eduardo Nunez _ but the runs were mostly window dressing once Boston's bullpen took over. Red Sox relievers were asked to provide 10 outs to preserve Rick Porcello's 13th win of the season, and they needed just 11 batters to do it.
For Odorizzi, the loss continued an up-and-down pattern that has proved difficult to escape: He's at his best when the opposition is worst. Odorizzi owns a 3.06 ERA in nine starts against teams that are below .500. But the better teams have proved him hittable: with five runs in five innings on Saturday, his ERA against above-.500 opponents jumped to 5.68.
Some 250 miles away, Paul Molitor was probably glad he didn't have to watch this dismantling for once. Molitor rode across Massachusetts and New York on Saturday morning to reach Cooperstown, where he will watch his old St. Paul pal Jack Morris be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday.
The reigning AL Manager of the Year's absence left Shelton to make out the lineup and handle all the pitching changes, his first time in charge of a team since he led the 2002 Staten Island Yankees to the best record in the New York-Penn League.
And the temporary manager had a couple of new players to work with, too. Sano was in the Twins' lineup for the first time since June 13, and Moya was back in the bullpen, his third stint with the Twins this season.
"I'm excited. Any time you get a chance to do this, it's a cool opportunity," the longtime coach, who turns 48 on Monday, said before the game.
So what advice did Molitor leave for his temporary backup? "Don't mess it up," Shelton said.
