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Monroe's two homers power Twins past Red Sox

May 12, 2008 - 5:23 AM By Anthony Maggio PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

MINNEAPOLIS (Ticker) - After watching Craig Monroe torment them over his career, the Minnesota Twins decided this offseason if they can't beat him, they should sign him. The move paid off on Sunday.

Monroe had his first multi-homer game in nearly four years and drove in four runs as the Twins held off a late rally by the Boston Red Sox for a 9-8 triumph at the Metrodome.

A career .257 hitter, Monroe has haunted the Twins throughout his career, hitting .322 with 13 homers and 48 RBI against Minnesota in 79 career games before the team acquired him in a trade from the Chicago Cubs in November for a player to be named later.

In granting the Twins their first multi-homer game of the season, Monroe recorded his first two-home run game since August 30, 2004.

"We've seen Craig kill us when he played against us," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "So I expect him to hit. We signed him here to get some hits because he killed us. We're mixing both (Monroe and Jason Kubel) in there and we'll mix them in the best we can but, right now, Craig's got some hits and we're going to see if we can run with him."

Boston put up two runs in the ninth inning after crawling back from a 7-1 deficit through three innings, but closer Joe Nathan got pinch hitter Manny Ramirez to ground out with the tying run on second base to make Monroe's seventh-inning solo blast the game-winning run.

"It gives you a different feel on the inside to say I went out and perfected a plan today," Monroe said. "I worked on some things early in the cage, put the tee out front and was really working on trying to catch the ball out front a little more. It's great when you work on something and can just see the results immediately."

The results nearly weren't enough after Monroe's three-run blast off Tim Wakefield in the second inning helped the Twins to a six-run lead through three innings.

Boston posted three runs in the fourth inning and got a two-run homer from Coco Crisp in the seventh to set up a wild ninth against Nathan.

Kevin Youkilis and Mike Lowell hit back-to-back one-out singles to put runners on the corners with the Red Sox still trailing, 9-6. J.D. Drew followed with a deep drive to center field that Carlos Gomez misjudged for an RBI double.

Crisp then hit a bouncer off Nathan for an RBI fielder's choice, but Nathan was able to chase down the ball and threw out Drew trying to advance to third base.

"I knew I wasn't getting Coco," Nathan said. "At first, I was hoping it was close enough to still get Coco at first, but then when I saw where it was, it was just reaction. I saw Drew running down the line and that was my only play."

Ramirez, who was left out of the starting lineup due to a sore right hamstring, then pinch hit for Kevin Cash but grounded to shortstop Adam Everett to end the game and give Nathan 12 saves in as many chances.

"Coco hits the ball, J.D.'s going, Nathan makes a great play," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "We gave ourselves a chance in a game that didn't look like a lot of teams would have a chance. We don't get a win for it, but that's the way you're supposed to do it."

Boston was put in a huge hole by starter Tim Wakefield (3-2), who allowed seven runs - six earned - on seven hits and two walks in 2 2/3 innings. It was his shortest starting appearance due to performance since he lasted 2 1/3 innings at Detroit on June 20, 1997, when he gave up six earned runs.

Three batters later, Everett hit his first home run since June 2, 2007 - a two-run shot - to give the Twins a 5-0 advantage. Mike Lamb chased Wakefield in the third inning with a two-out, two-RBI single.

"They did a great job of hitting good pitches," Cash said. "They were pitches that if they weren't hit, I didn't know if I would catch them."

Nick Blackburn (3-2) earned the win for Minnesota, allowing four runs on nine hits and a walk with five strikeouts in six innings.

Justin Morneau went 3-for-3 with two runs scored for the Twins.