An emergency siren interrupted Michael Pineda's Target Field start on Thursday, and as if on cue, trouble soon struck the Twins. But perhaps the warning paid off, because the Twins managed to avert disaster in the end.
Max Kepler looped a single into shallow center field and Luis Arraez, on base with his fourth hit of the day, raced around to score from second, and the Twins won for the first time in a week, 4-3 over the Red Sox.
The Twins averted a four-game sweep to baseball's hottest team, but only after nearly succumbing to the fire surrounding them. Boston scratched out only two paltry singles over seven innings against Michael Pineda to ball behind by three runs, but immediately tied the game once he departed, and then threatened to take the lead in the ninth.
But Alexander Colome, who has blown two ninth-inning leads already this season, got the zero by striking out the final two hitters he faced, setting up the Twins' first ninth-inning scoring rally of the season.
The Red Sox win streak was snapped at nine, and the Twins' losing streak ended at five.
By why was there any doubt? Pineda has been ending losing streaks since he arrived in Minnesota. Over the past three seasons, the Twins are an amazing 15-1 when Pineda's on the mound following a loss. Talk about a first responder.
Enrique Hernandez opened the game with a single, but Pineda retired 14 in a row after that, completely flustering a Boston offense that has averaged 7.4 runs per game during its winning streak. Pineda, the first Twins pitcher to record an out in the seventh inning this season, allowed only two singles and a walk in his seven-inning, 88-pitch start, striking out six.
The Twins' surrender of their three-run lead in the eighth was the product of Hansel Robles' first terrible outing of the year, and a tremendous at-bat by Red Sox outfielder Alex Verdugo. Robles, who had allowed only two baserunners in his first five appearances as a Twin, loaded the bases by hitting a batter and walking two more, forcing Twins manager Rocco Baldelli to summon lefthander Trevor Rogers to face Verdugo, who drove in three runs the day before.
They battled for 10 pitches, and Verdugo finally won the confrontation by lacing a three-run double into the left-field corner, tying the game.
