Game 114 - Red Sox 8, Twins 6

OK, so we'll have to try this again.

No milestone for Tim Wakefield, but four consecutive hits by the Red Sox led to 2 runs in the top of the 9th and an 8-6 Red Sox win.

Actually, Wakefield's 3rd attempt at his 200th career win might never have had a fair chance. Following Sunday night's 3-2 10-inning win over the Yankees on national television, the Red Sox didn't even get to their Minnesota hotel until 5 AM Monday morning so you might have excused them if they took a couple of innings to rub the sleep out of their eyes.

The Red Sox jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the top of the 3rd on an RBI single by Marco Scutaro that plated David Ortiz, but some sloppy fielding combined with 4 hits in the bottom of the frame put the Twins up 3-1. Minnesota added single runs in the 4th and 5th before the Red Sox erupted for 4 runs in the 6th, highlighted by back-to-back home runs by David Ortiz (21st of the season) and Jarrod Saltalamacchia (his 11th).

Boston took a 6-5 lead in the top of the 8th on a fielder's choice by Mike Aviles and Wakefield's 200th appeared to be within reach until an RBI single by Jason Kubel off Red Sox reliever Alfredo Aceves tied the score at 6.

Boston's 2-run 9th featured singles by Gonzalez, Pedroia, Ortiz (his 4th hit of the night) and a double by Saltalamacchia.

NOTES -
Jonathan Papelbon struck out two in earning his 25th save of the season.

Aceves improves to 8-1 on the season with the "vulture" win; believe it or not his career record is 22-2.

David Ortiz had 4 hits including his 21st home run of the season. He drove in 3 and scored 3.

The win was the 30th come-from-behind victory for the Red Sox in 2011.