Jorge Polanco drives in four, Dylan Bundy gets win as Twins blast Red Sox 8-3

BOSTON — Two starts into his Twins career, Dylan Bundy owns a 2-0 record, an 0.87 ERA and an early lead in the one-upmanship that is the Twins' starting rotation.

"It's great. Every one of us is hungry to go out there and compete — and compete with each other as well," Bundy said of the Twins' six-man rotation, which owns a collective 2.89 ERA, second-best behind Chicago in the AL. "Any time you can kind of compete against the starting staff, it makes every one of us better."

So give Bailey Ober, Chris Archer and the rest of the starters a small share of credit for the Twins' 8-3 victory over the Red Sox on Monday in the traditional Patriots Day morning game at Fenway Park. Bundy, who debuted with five shutout innings against the Mariners last week, tacked on four more before noon, before finally giving up his first run of the season.

Kyle Garlick's first hit of the season struck the top of Fenway's left-field wall, eventually ruled a home run that gave the Twins a first-inning lead over their former teammate, Red Sox lefthander Rich Hill. Two innings later, Jorge Polanco followed Gilberto Celestino's first hit of the season, a sharp single to center, with a far more emphatic homer over the wall in left-center, staking the Twins to a four-run lead.

But in a reflection of how haywire the Twins' offense has been recently, Polanco said his eighth-inning single, which increased the Twins' lead from three runs to five, was the bigger hit.

"Yes, I think so," Polanco said, because failing to get a bust-it-open hit when they had a chance has already cost the Twins a couple of times this year.

They're batting only .168 with runners in scoring position this year, including 1-for-10 on Monday. So that lone hit, a 3-and-2 smash into right field off Boston reliever Kutter Crawford, was a hopeful sign for the sputtering offense.

"Sometimes we chase a lot. We're getting better at it," Polanco said, pointing out that the Twins battled their way to three unintentional walks during that put-away four-run eighth inning. "We're taking better at-bats, better quality at-bats."

Certainly Garlick, 0-for-3 on the season but batting cleanup because of his .597 career slugging percentage against lefthanders, had a good one, whacking a 3-1 fastball just far enough for a homer, though umpires had to huddle up before ruling that he had.

"I saw it kick up, but I didn't actually see it hit the wall. I was too busy running and wanted to make sure I got to second base," Garlick said. "I don't want to say I was surprised I was in the four-spot, but it definitely gave me some confidence."

Bundy gave all his teammates confidence, utilizing a fastball that never quite reached 91 mph and a slider clocked in the high 70s to keep the Red Sox off-balance. Working quickly, Bundy struck out six, didn't issue a walk, and faced only 13 hitters in the first four innings.

"The combination of them mis-hitting balls early in the count and just being aggressive on me," played into Bundy's favor, he said. "Everybody knows I throw strikes, so they're going to be aggressive early in the count, and it's my job to sense that."

A leadoff wall double by Alex Verdugo in the fifth inning broke the spell, and Verdugo eventually scored on Christian Vazquez's grounder.

Two hits in the sixth knocked Bundy from the game, but Joe Smith prevented any runs from scoring, partly due to a smart play by Miguel Sano, who fielded a sharp ground ball and caught Rafael Devers in a rundown between third base and home plate.

"He was in total control of everything again today," Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said of Bundy, who signed a one-year contract with the Twins on Dec. 1. "I mean, he really got it done."