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Opportunities lost hurt Twins against Red Sox

Karen Paurus, Charles Krupa

Boston Red Sox's Manny Ramirez celebrates his RBI single, driving in Dustin Pedroia for the first run of the game, against the Minnesota Twins in the eighth inning of their MLB baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston, Monday July 7, 2008. The Red Sox beat the Twins 1-0. At left is Twins first baseman Justin Morneau.

After masterful performances by starting pitchers Scott Baker and Daisuke Matsuzaka, Boston earned a tight victory by seizing its moment -- something the Twins and an impatient Delmon Young could not do.

By JOE CHRISTENSEN, Star Tribune

Last update: July 8, 2008 - 7:55 AM

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BOSTON 1, TWINS 0

Up next: 6:05 tonight at Boston • Fenway Park • TV: FSN (1500-AM)

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BOSTON — Delmon Young described Monday night's game between the Twins and Red Sox as playoff-like, and unlike his four plate appearances, this wasn't another first-pitch swing gone awry.

Boston ended the Twins' five-game winning streak with a 1-0 victory in front of an announced sellout crowd of 37,912 at Fenway Park.

Manny Ramirez singled home Dustin Pedroia with the winning run off rookie reliever Brian Bass in the eighth inning. Afterward, much like with a playoff game, there were plenty of moments to dissect.

The Twins -- and Young in particular -- missed their two big chances, forcing manager Ron Gardenhire to jockey his bullpen and bench in the late innings.

Twins starter Scott Baker matched Boston's Daisuke Matsuzaka zero-for-zero for seven innings.

"I gave it everything I had," said Baker, who threw 94 pitches and acknowledged he was gassed after the seventh.

After Young grounded out with the bases loaded for the second time in the game, ending the top of the eighth inning, Gardenhire turned to Bass. Then Boston pounced.

Pedroia led off the bottom of the inning with a double high off the Green Monster, and J.D. Drew moved him to third base with a grounder.

With one out and first base open, the Twins could have walked Ramirez and aimed for the double play against Mike Lowell.

"How's Manny been doing lately?" Gardenhire said.

Ramirez had batted .161 (5-for-31) with 13 strikeouts on Boston's just-completed 3-7 road trip.

"We'll take our chances," Gardenhire said. "He's a great hitter, but you don't want to walk him and get to the next guy. Keep putting more people on base at this ballpark, I don't think that's too wise either. Manny, Lowell, and then [Kevin] Youkilis -- pick your poison."

Bass, who had posted a 1.23 ERA over the previous two weeks, got ahead of Ramirez 0-2 but left the sixth pitch of the at-bat over the plate, and the 12-time All-Star punched it to right field.

Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his 26th save, leaving the Twins dwelling on missed chances.

Opponents were batting .201 against Matsuzaka, but his weakness has been controlling the pitch count. In his previous start, at Tampa Bay, he exhausted 101 pitches in five innings.

The Twins followed the plan in the first inning. With two outs, Joe Mauer walked, Justin Morneau singled and Jason Kubel walked.

Matsuzaka's pitch count was 24, but undeterred, Young swung at his first offering, bouncing a ball right back to the mound.

"I was sitting dead-red fastball," Young said. "That was a little bit up, and it got a little bit in. If it caught a little more of the bat, it would have been back up the middle. You've just got to tip your cap because he got out of the inning. It doesn't matter how you do it."

The Twins didn't have another runner reach second base until Morneau doubled in the sixth. Still, after getting a home run-saving catch from right fielder Denard Span in the seventh, the Twins loaded the bases with one out in the eighth.

Red Sox lefthander Hideki Okajima relieved Matsuzaka, and Gardenhire used righthanded-hitting Craig Monroe to pinch hit for Jason Kubel.

Lefties were batting .220 off Okajima compared with .291 for righthanders, but with a 2-2 count, Monroe fouled out to Youkilis at first base.

Up stepped Young.

For the fourth consecutive time, he swung at the first pitch, a fastball off the plate, and grounded it to second base, ending the inning.

"We've got a few guys who don't work the counts -- we swing," Gardenhire said. "You take the good with the bad. ... We've been winning a lot of baseball games that way. [Young's] been getting a lot of hits that way."

Young came in batting .417 in his previous four games, but this time, his aggressive approach didn't work.

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