Boston jumped on Twins righthander Ervin Santana for two first-inning home runs Sunday to put the Twins in a 3-0 hole.
Santana then gave up a solo homer to Mookie Betts in the fifth inning. But Santana changed his pitch sequences to keep the Red Sox from doing more damage and appeared to be rewarded in the bottom of the fifth, when the Twins scored four runs off lefthander Chris Sale.
All Santana had to do was to keep the score tied there. But then he faced Sandy Leon with a man on in the sixth.
"I was just trying to put zeros on the board, and me and [Chris] Gimenez were on the same page until that at-bat," Santana said. "I changed my mind and threw the wrong pitch. He hit it good."
Gimenez asked for a slider. Santana shook him off to a changeup. Leon didn't miss it.
"It was my fault," Santana said.
The initial plan, Gimenez said, was to work around Leon for a more favorable matchup against Deven Marrero, the No. 9 hitter. But Santana's first pitch was called a strike, and Gimenez sensed that Santana then decided to go after Leon.
"If [the changeup] is down a little bit more, we're in business," Gimenez said.