Any game against a division rival is important. This game was a little bit more important, perhaps. Freddy Garcia assisted the Twins in their pursuit of first place. Freddy left mostly all of his pitches up in the zone, and everything got hit hard. The Twins hit 3 tape measures against him, and this is essentially what put Sox away.
More mediocre pitching ensued after Garcia’s early exit, and the Twins ended up scoring a total of 12 runs. Tony Pena, Scott Linebrink, and Bobby James came in as relief. This was a poor performance all around. Juan Pierre was picked off at first base in the third inning when the game was still manageable.
The Sox will look to John Danks to stop the bleeding in game 2. He will oppose Glen Perkins who was recently recalled from AAA.