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Red Sox-Twins Preview

May 28, 2009 - 5:41 AM By ANTHONY GIORNALISTA STATS Senior Writer

Boston (27-19) at Minnesota (23-24), 1:10 p.m. EDT

Josh Beckett gave his catcher plenty of chances to hustle in his last outing. Fortunately for the Boston Red Sox, those consisted of jogs back to the dugout after successful innings.

Coming off an outstanding start, Beckett looks to help the Red Sox settle down after a wild performance on the mound as they conclude a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins on Thursday.

Boston (27-20) has lost four of six to drop into a first-place tie with the New York Yankees in the AL East, and none of its defeats was as bizarre as the one Wednesday night.

Daisuke Matsuzaka and two other pitchers combined to tie a modern-day record with six wild pitches in a 4-2 loss.

Matsuzaka threw four wild pitches to tie a franchise record set 80 years ago, and relievers Manny Delcarmen and Justin Masterson also had the catcher scrambling. It was the fifth time since 1900 that a team threw six wild pitches in a game, and first since the California Angels against Minnesota on April 13, 1991.

"A lot going on around the dirt area," Red Sox manager Terry Francona said. "There were a lot of balls bouncing."

Beckett (4-2, 5.01 ERA) hasn't thrown a wild pitch all season and was in complete control the last time he took the mound. In his best start of the season, the right-hander surrendered an unearned run and five hits in eight innings of a 3-2 loss to the New York Mets on Saturday, but didn't factor in the decision.

He walked just one in that contest, but he has issued 24 bases on balls in 55 2-3 innings. In 2008, Beckett walked only 34 in 174 1-3 innings.

Beckett is 2-1 with a 4.74 ERA in three starts against the Twins. This will be his first career appearance at the Metrodome.

The Twins (24-24) have won six of seven, averaging 8.1 runs during that span. They were led Wednesday by speedy leadoff hitter Denard Span, who had four hits, a walk and two runs scored. Five of the Red Sox's wild pitches came with him on base.

In his first full season as a starter, Span is batting .316 with 22 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He's hitting .483 (14 for 29) in his last eight games.

Twins third baseman Joe Crede may return to the lineup Thursday after missing three straight games with a bruised hand. Three of his eight homers have come in his last four games.

Minnesota's Anthony Swarzak (1-0, 0.00) will make his second major league start. The right-hander won his debut, giving up five hits in seven scoreless innings of a 6-2 victory over Milwaukee on Saturday.

"He came up here and showed he belongs," catcher Joe Mauer said of Minnesota's second-round draft pick in 2004.

The Red Sox have had a tough time solving opposing pitchers over the last week, scoring three runs or fewer in four of their last six games. Slumping slugger David Ortiz has batted sixth in the order the last two games, going 1 for 7 to drop his average to .193.