Red Sox vs. Twins: Nine unanswered nets Sox a win

Three key swings from Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez changed Boston’s fortunes. Instead, the Red Sox expanded their lead in the American League East and have a chance to bury Minnesota at the end of its own long road trip.

BOSTON — What a difference two innings made Saturday night at Fenway Park.

The Red Sox were staring at the reality of losing the season series to the Twins and needing a victory on Sunday afternoon just to salvage a split of this weekend’s four-game set, the beginning of a first lengthy home stand out of the All-Star break.

Three key swings from Jackie Bradley Jr., Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez changed Boston’s fortunes. Instead, the Red Sox expanded their lead in the American League East and have a chance to bury Minnesota at the end of its own long road trip.

Bradley, Betts and Martinez combined to drive in all four runs in the fourth and fifth frames, the beginning of nine unanswered. Boston’s three-run deficit transformed into a 10-4 win in front of a 14th straight sellout crowd, as the 36,798 on hand eventually were able to celebrate.

Bradley stepped to the plate in a 4-1 game and nailed a two-run triple off the wall in center, his 15th extra-base hit in his last 26 home games. The deep drive rolled away from a leaping Jake Cave, allowing Rafael Devers and Eduardo Nunez to scamper all the way around, and it was suddenly a one-run game. Bradley has driven in 23 runs over his last 25 games overall, production that suggests his spot in the daily lineup is in no jeopardy.

Betts was the hero the previous night thanks to his walkoff homer in the 10th inning, and he came through yet again by tying things up on Saturday. The right fielder lashed a one-hopper into the corner in left for an RBI double, allowing Bradley to stroll across the plate and knot the game at 4-4. It was the highlight on a night where he also became the youngest Red Sox player to reach 100 home runs and 100 stolen bases in his career.

That set the stage for Martinez leading off the fifth, and the free agent slugger continued his history-making debut season in Boston. Twins starter Jake Odorizzi hung a slider that was soon bound for Lansdowne Street, as Martinez crushed a solo homer out of sight to left. It was a 5-4 Red Sox lead that only continued to grow, as Boston nicked a single run in the sixth and scored four more times while batting around in the eighth.

As has been the case throughout most of his Red Sox career, Rick Porcello made the most of the generous offensive support. The right-hander grinded his way through 5 2/3 innings, and Boston is now 61-13 in games where it gives Porcello three or more runs with which to work. Heath Hembree, Tyler Thornburg and Joe Kelly combined for 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, with Hembree stranding the potential tying run in the sixth.

The Red Sox had little to show for a first inning in which they sent seven men to the plate, scratched out four singles and sent a pair of deep fly balls to the warning track in center. Mitch Moreland’s return to the lineup began with a run-scoring liner into right, making it 1-0. Eduardo Nunez left the bases loaded when he sent a sharp one-hopper wide of first, resulting in a 3-1 putout.

The Twins required just one prodigious swing to tie things up in the next half-inning. Logan Morrison got every last bit of an inside fastball from Porcello, nailing it to deep right. The ball finally came to rest in the grandstand 434 feet from home plate, and it was 1-1.

Regularly missing the target put down by Boston catcher Sandy Leon continued to cost Porcello in the third. He hung a pair of sliders to Jorge Polanco and Brian Dozier, two pitches that led to a combined three two-out runs. Polanco rifled a two-run triple to the triangle in right center and Dozier lined an RBI single up the middle, giving Minnesota its three-run lead.

It was all Red Sox from there, as Boston put this one out of reach in the eighth. Betts skied a double off the Green Monster, Devers forced in a run with a bases-loaded walk and Nunez lashed a two-run double up the alley in left center. Kelly’s scoreless ninth included a 6-3 double play turned by Bogaerts, who stepped on the bag after fielding Cave’s chopper up the middle and fired to first to end it.

Bill Koch writes for the Providence Journal of GateHouse Media.