The defending world champion Boston Red Sox make their lone regular-season visit to the Metrodome this weekend, when the American League powerhouses start up a four-game series with the Minnesota Twins that begins this evening.
Jon Lester gets the starting assignment for the Sox in tonight's opener and will attempt to continue an excellent recent roll. The young left-hander held Tampa Bay to a run and four hits over six innings to pick up a victory on Sunday, five days after he fired eight shutout frames of one-run ball in a no decision against Toronto.
Lester has faced the Twins just one time previously, a relief stint at Fenway Park on September 30 of last season. He threw two shutout innings in that matchup and did not allow a hit while striking out two.
Boof Bonser takes the mound tonight for Minnesota and is coming off a wild last start. The right-hander was tagged for six first-inning runs against Detroit on Sunday, but he held the Tigers scoreless over the remainder of his six-inning stint and wound up with a no-decision in a 7-6 Twins' triumph.
Prior to that outing, Bonser limited Chicago to a run and struck out eight batters over seven stellar innings to lead Minnesota to a 3-1 victory on April 29.
Bonser has won both of his previous career starts against Boston and compiled a 3.75 ERA over those tests.
The Red Sox currently lead the AL East with a 23-14 record and have won six of their last seven games, including Thursday's 5-1 decision over Detroit. Josh Beckett threw seven strong innings and Kevin Youkilis belted a two-run homer for Boston, which took three of four matchups from the Tigers.
Beckett (4-2) allowed one run and six hits and did not walk a batter while racking up eight strikeouts on the night.
Jason Varitek also drove in two runs for the Red Sox, while Youkilis delivered his fifth home run in five games.
Minnesota surged into first place in the AL Central on the strength of a recent five-game win streak, but cooled off in this week's series at Chicago. The White Sox won two of the three matchups in the set and downed the Twins by a 6-2 count in Thursday's finale.
In his first start since April 4, Minnesota's Kevin Slowey (0-2) took the loss after surrendering three runs on four hits through five innings. The young righty was placed on the disabled list with a right biceps strain after his lone start earlier this season.
Joe Mauer and Delmon Young each registered two singles for Minnesota, which did not record an extra-base hit in the loss.
Boston won two of three games from the Twins at the Metrodome last May, but the Red Sox have gone just 3-6 as the visitor in this series since the beginning of the 2005 season.
