After earning a victory for the first time in 12 starts in his last outing
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Gibson (2-4, 3.27 ERA) threw six shutout innings to earn the win against Baltimore in his season debut but was 0-4 over his next 12 starts despite posting a 3.75 ERA during that stretch as the Twins’ offense struggled to generate run support.
He finally snapped the drought last week, outdueling Cleveland ace Corey Kluber by holding the Indians to a run over seven innings.
“There’s no complaints around here about how Gibby’s been throwing the ball,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “Can’t explain some things that happen. For him to go whatever it was, 10 or 11 weeks, as well as he’s been pitching. But we backed him up a little bit, got to a tough pitcher.”
Gibson is 1-2 with a 3.08 ERA in four career starts against Boston.
How Molitor plans to protect any lead Gibson and the lineup can generate remains to be seen.
Molitor has been rotating relievers through late-inning roles after Addison Reed was removed from the setup role to get the right-hander back on track.
Reed has pitched just once since June 10, with right-handers Trevor Hildenberger and Ryan Pressly and left-handers Zach Duke and Taylor Rogers expected to get a chance to bridge the gap to closer Fernando Rodney.
“There’s no question that while we get Reed back to where we want Reed to be, I think he’s getting a little antsy to pitch
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Second baseman Eduardo Nunez will likely be back in Boston manager Alex Cora’s lineup Thursday as the Red Sox look to avoid being swept for the first time this season.
Nunez has seen the bulk of the action at second base with Dustin Pedroia on the disabled list, but Nunez has not produced at the plate or in the field. He is batting .247 with a .625 OPS this season and is last among American League second baseman with minus-10 defensive runs saved.
He took early work at second base ahead of Boston’s game Monday with Pedroia and infield coach Carlos Febles looking on.
“We need this guy to get going,” Cora said. “I saw what he did last year. We know there’s more there.”
Obtained from the San Francisco Giants last July, Nunez batted .321 with an .892 OPS in 38 games after the trade, and the Red Sox signed him to a one-year deal as they prepared to open the season without Pedroia.
“Eduardo is not known for his defense,” Cora admitted. “He’s an offensive player. He’s doing his best. He’s making the routine plays.”
Rick Porcello (8-3, 3.70) gets the start for Boston in the series finale.
The right-hander is 2-1 with a 3.60 ERA over his last four starts, and he had his string of three straight outings allowing two earned runs halted when the Mariners tagged him for four over six innings in a loss at Seattle on Friday.
Porcello is 10-10 with a 3.90 ERA in 29 career starts against Minnesota, but he has yet to face the Twins this season.
Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres was placed on the 10-day disabled list on Wednesday because of a strained right hip.
Torres was removed after striking out in his second at-bat in the fourth inning before the Yankees went on to beat the Atlanta Braves 6-2.
Before the series finale against the National League East leaders
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Torres did not start in Tuesday night’s win, but entered the game late as a defensive replacement.
”We’re hoping it’s a short stint. But we think we’ve got to deal with it this time because there is a small strain there,” Boone said outside the home clubhouse after the game.
”Hopefully it won’t be something that it’s too long. Probably take us up to the All-Star break.”
Boone said the club would assess the situation with a day off Thursday before heading to Toronto for the start of an 11-game, three-city road trip leading into the All-Star Game in Washington.
Torres is hitting .294 with 15 home runs and 42 RBIs in his first 63 major league games.
He had an MRI and was not available to talk to reporters after the game.
Neil Walker, who went over from third base to second at the start of the fifth inning, could get most of the work in Torres’ absence.
Another option could be Ronald Torreyes, but he’s been on the temporary inactive list at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre for more than a week to deal with a personal issue. Brandon Drury, who started 114 games at second for Arizona last season, could also figure into the mix.
Boone wasn’t sure how the injury initially occurred
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The Yankees manager also added that if the injury had occurred late in the season, it would’ve been ”possible” for the phenom to be back on the field shortly.
But the team with the second-best record in baseball took the safe route.
”Anytime you’re talking about groin, hamstring, quads, once you have a strain in there, you push through it you can make it a worse strain,” Boone said.
”And now you’re talking weeks and months. Stuff like that. So I think the wise thing is to do this now. Gleyber wants to take a couple of days, work through it. But I think he also understands this is the best thing for him and for us.”
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