FORT MYERS, Fla. — Brian Dozier’s first-pitch home run and a shot by Miguel Sano just five pitches later set the tone as the Minnesota Twins beat the Boston Red Sox 6-2 Tuesday in a rain-shortened game.
Kurt Suzuki also homered for the Twins and Hanley Ramirez got two hits for Boston before the game was stopped with one out in the bottom of the seventh.
Sano got three hits and drove in three runs. Dozier and Trever Plouffe each had two hits.
Minnesota left-hander Tommy Milone went six innings, allowing two runs on five hits and two walks.
Red Sox starter Joe Kelly went four innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts.
“He had great stuff today – power to his fastball, he was down in the strike zone quite a bit,” Boston Manager John Farrell said. “Made some pitches up, out over the plate that, when you look at the first pitch of the game, Dozier rides one out of here. But power stuff. Not as efficient as the first two, three times out for him. Still, we got him to 90-plus pitches on a day when you’re getting close to opening day and you want to get close to 100 pitches.”
Suzuki homered in the fourth inning and Sano’s two-out single scored Dozier, who singled and took second when Joe Mauer walked.
The Red Sox scored twice in the third after Mookie Betts and Brock Holt hit one-out singles and moved up on a wild pitch. Chris Young had a sacrifice fly and Ramirez had an RBI single.
Kelly has had a fairly strong spring before this start. He entered the game having given up just three runs in 20 innings over five starts.
“Just a couple of mistake pitches,” Kelly said of his outing against the Twins.
NOTES: Farrell announced that left-hander David Price will be Boston’s opening day starter Monday in Cleveland. The announcement was just a formality. The Red Sox signed Price to a seven-year, $217 million free-agent contract in December.
This will be Price’s fifth opening day start.
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