MINNEAPOLIS – By building what they believed could be their best starting rotation in years, the Red Sox were confident that some pressure would be reduced on ace Garrett Crochet.
And while that still could be the case over the course of a long baseball season, veteran trade acquisition Sonny Gray was unable to pick up Crochet in a 6-0 defeat on Tuesday night at Target Field.
A day after Crochet endured what was easily the worst start of his career (1 1/3 innings, nine hits, 11 runs), Gray pinned his team in an early hole by throwing 93 pitches over a four-inning stint.
The offense also went into silent mode against Twins starter Mick Abel.
It has been tough sledding for the Red Sox, who are 6-11. But they actually arrived in Minneapolis with momentum, having won four of their previous five, including two straight series.
Now they’ll try to win the finale of this frustrating three-game set at Target Field when rookie lefty Connolly Early, the club’s No. 3 prospect, takes the mound.
The Twins got one off Gray in the first, another in the third and three more in the fourth.
The Red Sox are now 0-11 when they don’t get a quality start and 6-0 when they do. Also, the Sox are 0-7 when the opponent scores first.
After Gray’s earlier-than-expected exit, righty Jack Anderson was called on for his Major League debut at 26 years old. He was summoned from Triple-A Worcester earlier in the day due to Crochet’s abbreviated outing on Monday.
Anderson, with his wife and parents cheering him from the stands, struck out the side to start his night. He went three strong innings, allowing one run on a solo shot by Byron Buxton.