Twins defeat Red Sox on Kody Clemens’ home run with dad Roger in attendance

BOSTON – Kody Clemens, the son of a seven-time Cy Young Award winner who won a Most Valuable Player award and pitched in a World Series as a member of the Boston Red Sox, accomplished something his dad never did at Fenway Park.

Clemens hit a home run.

With his dad, Roger, in the stands for the first game he played at the ballpark Saturday, Kody Clemens electrified the Twins dugout with his go-ahead, two-run home run in the sixth inning. It was a no-doubter to right field, the Twins’ first homer with a runner on base in 43 innings.

The Twins ended their four-game losing streak with a 4-3 victory, their bullpen stranding four Red Sox baserunners across the last three innings.

“It’s a big-time home run for us as a team, but that’s a sweet moment,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “He’s got his whole family here. He’s at Fenway Park. Obviously, his dad had so much history in this place with these fans. No matter what he does — hopefully he plays for 15 more years — that’ll be something he never forgets, and I’ll never forget, either.”

The home run from Clemens elicited memories from when Red Sox Hall of Famer Carl Yastrzemski watched his grandson, Mike, homer in his first game at Fenway Park. Clemens, 28, was born during his dad‘s final season with the Red Sox, four months before Roger Clemens matched an MLB record with a 20-strikeout game.

One inning after the Twins left the bases loaded when Carlos Correa flew out to shallow right field, Kody Clemens connected on a slider that sat over the middle of the plate from Red Sox starter Hunter Dobbins. Correa met Clemens at the top of the dugout steps to congratulate him before Clemens strode through the dugout line of high-fives.

A fan threw the home run ball back onto the field, and a Fenway Park attendant threw the ball into a different part of the stands. A friend of Roger Clemens eventually retrieved it.

“I was just fired up to hit the ball hard,” said Kody Clemens, who made a trip to Fenway when he was with the Detroit Tigers in 2022 but never appeared in a game. “I haven’t gotten a lot of playing time over the course of the past few weeks.”

The Twins, who improved their record to 2-6 in one-run games, held off the Red Sox after a 72-minute rain delay in the seventh inning. Brock Stewart, who hit his first batter, gave up run-scoring hits to Jarren Duran and Rafael Devers before Griffin Jax retired the next two batters.

In the eighth inning, after Twins pinch runner DaShawn Keirsey Jr. was thrown out at the plate running on a contact play with Boston’s infield drawn in, Cole Sands permitted a pair of one-out singles. One of them was a miscommunication between Carlos Correa and Clemens, allowing a ground ball to roll through the middle of the infield with neither attempting to field it.

Sands pitched around it, inducing an inning-ending double play.

Jhoan Duran survived the ninth inning, with a sellout crowd of 36,250 at full roar, after giving up a leadoff single to Ceddanne Rafaela. The Twins opted to intentionally walk Alex Bregman, a righthanded hitter, to face lefty Wilyer Abreu with two outs.

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“It’s probably something I’ve never done before as a manager,” Baldelli said. “Putting the winning run on first base is something you’re going to try to avoid virtually every time.”

Duran earned his third save of the season when Abreu flew out to left field.

“Abreu, he’s a good hitter, but it’s much better to face him than Bregman,” Duran said. “Bregman right now, he’s had a good series. I think that’s the right move.”

Bailey Ober pitched six strong innings before the rain delay. He surrendered seven hits and one run while matching his season high with six strikeouts. He’s permitted no more than one run in five of his past six starts.

BOXSCORE: Twins 4, Red Sox 3

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 The Twins had only one hit in 10 at-bats with a runner on second or third base — Larnach hit an RBI single three batters after Clemens’ homer — but they did just enough. Byron Buxton led off the fourth inning with a single then forced a wide throw with his slide on what should’ve been a routine double-play grounder from Correa.

After Correa was safe at first base, Brooks Lee followed with a double and Ty France drove in a run with a groundout.

“In that atmosphere, against a good ballclub, it shows us what we’re made of,” Sands said.