BOSTON -- The Twins picked up a half-game in the American League Central today when Cleveland lost to the White Sox, so they'll carry a six-game lead into tonight's rubber game against the Red Sox.
Martin Perez (9-6, 4.89 ERA) will face Boston's Nathan Eovaldi (1-0, 6.23) at 6:10 p.m. (FSN).
The Twins lost 6-2 on Wednesday night as Jose Berrios struggled again.
The lineups, with Jorge Polanco (finger) sitting out for the Twins:
TWINS
Max Kepler, RF
Luis Arraez, SS
Nelson Cruz, DH
Eddie Rosario, LF
Miguel Sano, 3B
Mitch Garver, C
Jake Cave, CF
C.J. Cron, 1B
Jonathan Schoop, 2B
RED SOX
Mookie Betts, RF
Xander Bogaerts, SS
Rafael Devers, 3B
J.D. Martinez, DH
Christian Vazquez, C
Andrew Benintendi, LF
Sam Travis, 1B
Gorkys Hernandez, CF
Brock Holt, 2B
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La Velle E. Neal III has covered baseball for the Star Tribune since 1998 (the post-Knoblauch era). Born and raised in Chicago, he grew up following the White Sox and hating the Cubs. He attended both the University of Illinois and Illinois-Chicago and began his baseball writing career at the Kansas City Star. He can be heard occasionally on KFAN radio, lending his great baseball mind to Paul Allen and other hosts.
Phil Miller covered three seasons of Twins baseball, but that was at a different ballpark for a different newspaper. Now Miller returns to the baseball beat after joining the Star Tribune as the Gopher football writer in 2010, and he won't miss the dingy dome for a minute. In addition to the Twins and Gophers, Miller covered the Utah Jazz and the NBA for six years at The Salt Lake Tribune.
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