Twins pound out hit after hit after hit in crushing Red Sox

BOSTON – Twins lefthander Pedro Hernandez, pitching with a heavy heart Wednesday, lasted only two innings. His struggles came, however, on one of those crazy Fenway Park nights. A night in which the Twins couldn't stop hitting

''Your starter goes two innings and you end up winning a ballgame,'' Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. ''That's a pretty good offense.''

The Twins, behind one of their best offensive games ever in Fenway Park, spanked the Red Sox 15-8. Every Twins starter had at least one hit.

''Kind of a wild night,'' Twins catcher Joe Mauer said.

The Twins added dents to the Green Monster in left. They hit balls over the short wall in right. They had Boston's Jacoby Ellsbury running all over center field.

They hit when ahead in the count. They hit when they were down 0-2. They just hit.

Oswaldo Arcia had four hits by the fifth inning. Mauer had two doubles, giving him five for the series. Ryan Doumit had four hits. Pedro Florimon homered and doubled in the same inning.

Mauer and Josh Willingham both drew first-inning walks. Justin Morneau hit a ground-rule RBI double. Trevor Plouffe hit a sacrifice fly and Doumit pounded a two-run homer.

That 4-0 lead disappeared in the bottom of the inning, as Boston scored five runs, four on Jonny Gomes' grand slam.

Webster, however was knocked out in the second as the Twins scored seven runs, including a homer by Florimon, a two-run single by Aaron Hicks and a two-run double by Florimon —his second at-bat of the inning. It was 11-5 then.

Hernandez gave up a solo home run to Shane Victorino in the bottom of the second that made it 11-6 and was replaced by Ryan Pressly. Hernandez's cousin, Maira Camacho, died Monday in Venezuela and was buried Wednesday. He tried to pitch in her honor.

''Especially in Fenway Park, I wanted to have a win for her and do the best I can,'' he said through translator Wilkin Ramirez. ''I couldn't do it, so next time.''

Twins hitters kept producing. Their 15 runs, a season high, are the most they've scored at Fenway Park since May 25, 1965, when they scored 17. Their 20 hits, also a season high, are the most here since May 25, 1977, when they had 24.

And now, at the end of a road trip filled with missed plays, poor baserunning, a lack of clutch hitting and inconsistent pitching, the Twins can return home on the upswing. If they win Thursday's series finale, they would finish the trip 5-5 and head back to the Twin Cities with a 16-15 record — a mark many wouldn't have expected through 31 games.

''You have a chance to come in [Thursday] and do it on the last day and that is a good thing,'' Mauer said. ''It's been a long road trip, and if we can finish out with a win that will make that plane ride a lot better.''