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Twins, Red Sox facing long day, night

Apr 22, 2009 - 2:43 AM By Alan Ferguson Stats Writer

Minnesota (7-7) at Boston (7-6), 12:35 p.m. EDT, 7:10 p.m. EDT

BOSTON (AP) -- The Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins came into a two-game series looking to continue their turnarounds and add to their winning streaks.

Now they'll have to do it in one day.

Trying to carry momentum from weekend sweeps, the teams play a rescheduled day-night doubleheader on Wednesday. Tuesday's rain delayed the Red Sox's attempt to win their sixth straight game and the Twins' chance at four in a row.

After winning two of its first eight games, Boston (7-6) has won five straight and was coming off a four-game sweep of Baltimore, capped by Monday's 12-1 rout. Boston, which had season highs in runs and hits (15) Monday, is averaging 7.6 runs and batting .318 during the winning streak after averaging 3.6 runs and hitting .237 in its first eight.

David Ortiz entered Monday's game hitting .170 before getting a double and two-run triple.

"He'll be all right. He swung the bat well," said Dustin Pedroia, who was 4-for-6 with three RBIs. "It's a long year. Six hundred at-bats. The season isn't 50 at-bats."

Pedroia was also slumping but seems to have found his stroke. He finished the series against the Orioles 9-for-18 with four RBIs after going 7-for-39 (.179) with one RBI in his first nine games. The reigning AL MVP is batting .390 (23-for-59) with six doubles in 16 career games versus the Twins.

Minnesota started 4-7 before sweeping a three-game series from the Los Angeles Angels this weekend.

"If we had gotten swept, it would have been a morgue in here," third baseman Brendan Harris told the Twins' official Web site after Sunday's 3-1 win. "(Manager Ron Gardenhire) talked about not panicking. He just talked about coming in here and playing hard and we'll get it turned around. And we did."

Minnesota (7-7) was swept in a three-game series at Fenway last season and last met Boston on July 9 in an 18-5 loss.

Justin Morneau was 13-for-26 with a homer, double and five RBIs in seven games against the Red Sox in 2008, and is 5-for-12 with a double lifetime versus Tuesday's scheduled starter for the first game -- Tim Wakefield (1-1, 3.00 ERA).

Wakefield was outstanding his last time out, coming within five outs of his first no-hitter. The 42-year-old knuckleballer walked two while throwing a four-hitter in an 8-2 win Wednesday over Oakland, and the Sox haven't lost since.

Wakefield wasn't sharp in his only start against the Twins last season, yielding seven runs and seven hits in 2 2-3 innings of a 9-8 road loss May 11.

Minnesota counters with Scott Baker (0-1, 13.50), who is coming off a rough outing.

The Twins originally named Baker their opening day starter, but he developed shoulder soreness in his shoulder on April 1 and was placed on the 15-day disabled list. His first start off the DL wasn't encouraging.

Baker was tagged for six runs and five hits - including a career-high four home runs - in Wednesday's 12-2 loss to Toronto. However, he had one of the best starts of his career against the Red Sox last season, giving up five hits and striking out seven in seven scoreless innings of a 1-0 loss on July 7.

In the finale, Francisco Liriano (0-3, 5.09) is set to make his first career appearance against the Red Sox. After giving up nine runs in his first two starts, the left-hander allowed one earned run over six innings Thursday but took the loss to visiting Toronto.

Last season, Liriano started 0-3 with a 11.32 ERA before winning four straight.

The Red Sox look to Brad Penny (1-0, 11.00 ERA), who had one of his worst career performances in his previous start. Penny gave up eight runs in just three innings Friday night against visiting Baltimore.

The right-hander, who spent his first 10 seasons in the National League, made his only appearance against Minnesota on June 10, 2005, giving up five runs in six innings in a Los Angeles Dodgers' win.