Red Sox 4 - 3 Twins
Final
  for this game

Red Sox send Bedard to hill in Minnesota

Aug 9, 2011 - 2:46 PM

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(Sports Network) - Erik Bedard makes his second start for Boston tonight when the Red Sox resume a three-game series with the Minnesota Twins at Target Field.

Bedard, acquired from Seattle right at the July 31 non-waiver deadline, did not get a decision in his Red Sox debut on Thursday against Cleveland, as he allowed three runs and seven hits in five innings.

"I felt pretty good," said Bedard, who was making just his second start since returning from a stint on the disabled list with a strained knee. "I threw strikes. That's a basic thing coming back and trying to get my pitch count up. That's the most important thing."

The left-hander, who is 4-7 with a 3.55 ERA on the year, has surrendered three earned runs or less in 14 of his 17 starts this season and two runs or less in eight of those games.

Bedard tossed six scoreless innings to beat the Twins earlier in the year, but is just 2-5 lifetime against them with a 4.18 ERA in 11 starts.

Boston won its third straight game in Monday's opener, as David Ortiz finished with four hits, including a home run, and drove in three runs to lead the Red Sox to an 8-6 triumph.

Tim Wakefield was trying to notch his 200th career victory for the third time, and despite giving up five runs -- three earned -- in seven innings, was actually in line for the win.

Minnesota, though, tied the game in the eighth, before Ortiz plated the decisive run in the ninth to put the Red Sox ahead and help them stretch their lead atop the American League East standings to a 1 1/2 games ahead of idle New York.

Minnesota slugger Jim Thome remained two home runs shy of becoming the eighth player in major league history to reach 600, going 1-for-4 with an RBI.

The Twins have now lost five in a row.

"I don't know if it's pressing. I think there's urgency. But our series against the White Sox was terrible," he said prior to Monday's series opener. "Now we've got probably the best team in our league coming in with a lineup that can absolutely murder you. ... That urgency has to be there because we're 12 games under .500 and we're kinda going the other [way] of what we wanted to do. So we have to do some damage against a really good baseball team."

Tonight, they turn to left-hander Francisco Liriano, who is 7-9 with a 5.03 ERA. Liriano lost for the second time in three starts on Thursday in Anaheim, as the Angels battered him for seven runs and 10 hits in five innings.

"I was getting behind in the count early," said Liriano. "I made some pitches, but there's nothing I can do about it. They got a couple infield hits and bloopers, and there's nothing I can do about that."

Liriano has not fared well against the Red Sox, going just 1-3 with a 7.78 ERA.

Boston has won four of five from the Twins this season.






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