Boston Red Sox Vs. Minnesota Twins: Lineups, preview, & prediction (June 21, 2018)

(Photo credit: Keith Allison)

Lance Lynn and the Twins bullpen dominated the Red Sox lineup last night, limiting them to four hits, five walks and just one run that came on an error by Logan Morrison. The Twins lineup, however, was not silent. Robbie Grossman hit a lead off homer off David Price, and Max Kepler added a two-run shot off the lefty in the fourth inning. Those two blasts put more than enough runs on the board for the Twins to walk away with the win, and put Boston on the brink of a sweep.

Rick Porcello (RHP) Vs. Kyle Gibson (RHP)

Porcello takes the ball today looking to stop the rot for Boston. The righty's ERA has been on the rise since a hot April, and now sits at 3.70 after a four-run, six-inning no decision his last time out against Seattle. He does hold an 8.7 K/9 and is controlling both home runs and walks quite well, but he's struggled with runners on base this year and his strand rate is becoming a real problem.

Gibson is having one of his best seasons in the Majors. He's posting a career-bests in ERA (3.27), WHIP (1.17) and K/9 (8.8) despite a shocking 2-4 record. He comes into today on a roll, allowing just five runs in his last four starts and a slash line against of just .161/.235/.280. If anyone is in position to keep the freeze on the Red Sox right now it is Gibson.

Projected lineups

Who's hot, and who's not

The Red Sox lineup has seen power, but not a lot of average in the last two weeks. Rafael Devers, Andrew Benintendi, and Xander Bogaerts all have three homers, but only Christian Vazquez is hitting over .300. Meanwhile, Mookie Betts is in a slump, hitting just .226 with one homer in the last 15 days and both Jackie Bradley Jr and Eduardo Nunez are struggling at the plate as well.

The Twins however, have a few hot bats right now. Eduardo Escobar, Eddie Rosario, and Ehire Adrianza are all hitting over .340 in the last two weeks. The issue is power. Rosario leads the way with three bombs in that span, while Adrianza and Robbie Grossman are the only others with multiple homers (2). They do have their fair share of cold bats too though. Logan Morrison, Max Kepler, Brian Dozier, and Joe Mauer are all hitting .200 or less.

Prediction

The Red Sox are skidding somewhat. They've dropped four of their last five and are averaging just 3.5 runs a game in their last 10. With Kyle Gibson in the form he is right now, I would not put it passed the sub .500 team to sweep the almost locked in playoff team right now. Porcello is a risk against a lineup that hits for average rather than power as he does have a tendency to cluster hits against him. I'll take the Twins by two here, as the Red Sox head home licking their wounds.