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Red Sox battle rain, shut down Twins

May 8, 2011 - 4:19 AM Boston, MA (Sports Network) - Clay Buchholz and four other Red Sox pitchers combined on a three-hitter, as Boston downed Minnesota, 4-0, in a rain- interrupted game at Fenway Park.

Buchholz (3-3) allowed two hits, walked one and struck out six in five innings for the Red Sox, who snapped a three-game slide. They had dropped the opener of this four-game series, 9-2, on Friday.

"I was able to mix it up a little bit," Buchholz said. "Everything felt good today."

Jacoby Ellsbury went 2-for-5 to extend his hitting streak to 16 games, and drove in two for Boston.

Twins starter Brian Duensing (2-2) allowed one run in two innings, after which the game was delayed for a little over two hours. Minnesota then got 4 1/3 solid innings of extended relief from Kevin Slowey, who was brought off the disabled list before Saturday's game. The right-hander allowed a run on six hits and one walk, and struck out one.

But Minnesota's offense didn't generate many scoring chances and had a three- game win streak broken.

"Obviously it would have been nice to win, but it will come," Slowey said.

The Red Sox cracked the scoreboard in the first inning, which Ellsbury began with a double. Dustin Pedroia then walked before Adrian Gonzalez lined out and Kevin Youkilis struck out.

But Ellsbury and Pedroia executed a double steal during Youkilis' strikeout, and Jed Lowrie followed by slapping a single to left to plate a run.

Boston made it a 2-0 contest shortly after play resumed. With Slowey on the mound, Gonzalez hit a ground-rule double with one away in the third inning, and scored when Youkilis followed with a single.

The Twins had a good opportunity to score in the sixth, when Rich Hill replaced Buchholz. Denard Span worked a leadoff walk and Hill hit Trevor Plouffe with a pitch.

However, Justin Morneau grounded into a double play before Hill struck out Jason Kubel.

Matt Albers pitched a scoreless seventh for Boston, and Daniel Bard worked a 1-2-3 eighth.

Ellsbury gave the Red Sox a 4-0 edge in the bottom half, when he singled with the bases loaded and two away. Jonathan Papelbon tossed a shutout ninth to secure the win.

Game Notes

Michael Cuddyer had two of the Twins' three hits...Carl Crawford had two hits for the Red Sox, extending his hitting streak to seven games. He is batting .407 (11-for-27) during the stretch.