Twins unravel late in 6-1 series-opening loss to Red Sox

BOSTON – With an offense providing almost no room for errors, the Twins are still making a lot of them.

In the span of one inning Friday at Fenway Park, Edouard Julien wiped out a potential runner in scoring position when he slid past second on a stolen base attempt in a tie game, then the go-ahead runs scored when he failed to secure a ground ball with two outs.

“It’s frustrating that we lose on that [defensive] play,” Julien said after the Twins’ 6-1 loss to the Boston Red Sox. “It was a bad inning for myself.”

Pitching in a 1-1 game in the seventh inning, Twins reliever Louie Varland allowed back-to-back singles to Connor Wong and David Hamilton. The two Red Sox batters entered Friday with a combined five hits in 56 at-bats.

After a sacrifice bunt moved up the runners, lefty reliever Danny Coulombe struck out Jarren Duran. Coulombe, presented a chance to preserve the tie, induced a ground ball against Rafael Devers. Julien ranged a couple of steps to his left, slid and the ball bounced off his glove. Hamilton, a fast runner, scored from second on a ball that barely left the infield.

The Twins have lost four consecutive games, matching their longest losing streak of the season.

“They were able to make the plays, and I didn’t come up with that,” Julien said. “I think if I made that play, we come back and we have a pretty good chance to win. I think our bullpen is pretty good.”

Boston turned a close game into a rout with three runs and five hits in the eighth inning off reliever Jorge Alcala, which included two run-scoring doubles that banged the outfield wall and two stolen bases.

The Twins have scored three or fewer runs in 17 of their 33 games this year, shining a spotlight on their inability to execute well in close games.

“It seems we’re always in there and at the end, we just can’t finish the game,” Julien said. “I’m sure at one point it’s going to turn it around.”

Ryan Jeffers blasted a solo homer against Red Sox starter Brayan Bello to begin the third inning, a scorching line drive that sailed to the last row of seats above the Green Monster, and the Twins didn’t have another baserunner reach third base.

Duran robbed the Twins from two extra-base hits, completing a diving grab along the left-field line against Ty France in the second inning and a leaping catch near the warning track on a line drive Mickey Gasper hit in the third.

“We’re going to learn a lot about ourselves because we’re grinding to put it together and score,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said.

Julien drew a one-out walk in the seventh inning, and he attempted swipe second base with two outs against Red Sox lefty Justin Wilson. Julien had a great jump, easily sliding ahead of a throw from Wong, the catcher, but he slid past the bag by several feet and he was tagged out to extinguish a potential opportunity.

The Twins, who amassed six hits, had only one at-bat Friday with a runner in scoring position.

“It’s a baseball play that anyone, including Ed, is going to say, ‘We’ve got to make that play,’” Baldelli said. “That’s our stolen base to win the game. We need to get runners in scoring position. It’s more we just have to execute.”

BOXSCORE: Boston 6, Twins 1

The loss spoiled a strong six-inning start from Joe Ryan, who was locked in a pitchers’ duel with Bello. Ryan, who had an uptick in velocity, yielded one run and four hits across six innings while striking out eight. Bello allowed one run and four hits over 6⅔ innings with five strikeouts.

Ryan’s biggest mistake Friday was a first-inning fastball that Alex Bregman drilled for a solo home run. It was the eighth home run of the season for Bregman, who has seven hits against Ryan in 15 career at-bats.

“The pitch he hit is a pitch that he’s not supposed to be great on,” said Ryan, who has compiled 19 strikeouts in his last two starts while giving up one run. “At the same time, I know what he’s trying to do. I said, ‘Let’s go. Let’s see what he does.’ And he did what he does. I tip my cap to that.”

Ryan holds a 2.93 ERA this year, yet the Twins own a 2-5 record in his starts.