MINNEAPOLIS -- The Twins scratched Nelson Cruz with a non-COVID-19 illness before Tuesday’s series opener against the Red Sox -- and they sure missed his big right-handed bat.

Fortunately for the Twins, reinforcements will soon be on the way once Josh Donaldson makes his expected return to the lineup on Wednesday following his recovery from a right hamstring strain and when Cruz recovers from his illness. That added power should help Minnesota pack more of a punch than it did when it dropped its third straight game in a 4-2 loss to the Red Sox on a chilly Tuesday at Target Field.

• Box score

Cruz was originally in the starting lineup against left-hander Martín Pérez as part of the Twins’ customary right-handed stack atop the order against southpaws, but he was scratched less than an hour before the game and was replaced in the batting order by the left-handed Jake Cave.

“Obviously, he’s a really important part of what we do and out there facing a lefty today, but we have to find a way to come together and have some good at-bats and score a few more runs either way,” manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Baldelli didn’t have any more of an update on Cruz’s condition following the game other than the fact that the designated hitter left the stadium before the game and was resting at home.

It was a particularly big loss considering Cruz carried a career .935 OPS against Boston into the matchup and also had the third-best slugging percentage in the American League, at .926. He also carried a seven-game hitting streak and a team-leading 10 RBIs into Tuesday.

The Twins had plenty of those opportunities for RBIs throughout Tuesday’s contest, putting runners on base in every inning but the ninth and stranding 10 baserunners in all, but they couldn’t punch through. Minnesota finished the game 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and only plated runs in the first inning on a sacrifice fly and an RBI fielder’s choice.

It didn’t help that the temperature of 33 degrees at first pitch at Target Field matched the third-coldest home game measured in Twins history, and a continuous dusting of blowing flurries made for an almost snow globe-like atmosphere at the ballpark for the first five innings.

"I think that this is one of those periods of time that I think a lot of teams go through when you're looking for a big hit,” Baldelli said. “You're looking for something to set everything off and get things rolling in some of these games. We had really good at-bats to start this game. We had a ton of guys on base.”

In the first inning, Willians Astudillo popped out with runners on the corners as the Twins couldn’t put up a crooked number after loading the bases with none out. Kyle Garlick twice left men on third base, and Minnesota also couldn’t come through in the eighth against left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez despite putting a pair aboard.

It’s not that they weren’t making solid contact; a trio of hard-hit balls against Red Sox relievers late in the game by Miguel Sanó, Andrelton Simmons and Jorge Polanco each carried an expected batting average of at least .470 apiece, but all three went for an out.

Things just weren’t falling in. Maybe the Bringer of Rain will bring a jolt.

Though Donaldson was said to be all but ready to return to the lineup on Monday, the Twins chose to hold him out for some extra time due in part to the expectation of inclement weather in the Minneapolis area, which would have created suboptimal conditions for his return and health.

“He's a great player,” Baldelli said. “Any time you can insert a guy of that caliber into a lineup, it is going to create some good energy and probably some good production out there on the field.”

But with the former 2015 AL MVP Award winner set to make his return following a spring of scalding the ball -- 10 of his 19 tracked batted balls in Spring Training qualified as hard-hit balls, with exit velocities of at least 95 mph -- the Twins hope that their lineup will look and feel different.

They could use that.

"When he's out there, he's going to produce for us, and we need that,” Cave said. “There's guys that aren't particularly happy -- and myself -- with the way they've swung the bat and stuff like that. So if we can get another guy in there that can bring some more confidence to the lineup ... I think it'll help out the whole lineup."