Football
Associated Press 19y

Red Sox 7, Twins (ss) 4

FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Matt Clement allowed a leadoff homer to
Luis Rivas but retired his final eight batters in the Boston Red
Sox's 7-4 victory Tuesday over the Minnesota Twins.

Clement's second spring training start was better than his first
since leaving the Chicago Cubs and signing a three-year, $25.5
million contract.

Rivas homered on Clement's third pitch of the game, and
Minnesota went out to a 4-1 lead before Boston scored two runs in
the sixth and took the lead with four in the eighth.

"Give him credit," Clement said of Rivas. "He did what you
should do with a bad slider and, after that, I felt pretty good,
got in a pretty good groove."

Lew Ford singled and Justin Morneau doubled in the first, but
Clement retired the side on two groundouts and finished with two
perfect innings. He allowed one run on three hits after giving up
one run on two hits in two innings against Minnesota last Thursday.

Twins starter Scott Baker was better. He struck out two and
allowed one hit in facing just nine batters in three scoreless
innings. On Saturday, he pitched two perfect innings against
Pittsburgh.

The Twins' other three pitchers didn't fare nearly as well.

In 2 1-3 innings, Dave Gassner allowed a solo homer to David
Ortiz and a two-run shot to Manny Ramirez that made it 4-3 in the
sixth. In the top of the inning, Juan Castro hit a three-run homer
off Alan Embree.

Minnesota managed just two hits in the final 3 1-3 innings,
allowing Boston to go ahead with four runs and just one hit in the
eighth off losing pitcher Boof Bonser.

Adam Hyzdu reached on a two-base error by second baseman Rivas
before walks to George Lombard and David McCarty loaded the bases.
The next four batters each drove in a run when Hanley Ramirez
singled, Shawn Wooten was hit by a pitch, Jeff Bailey walked and
Dave Berg hit a sacrifice fly. The last three batters faced
reliever Scott Tyler.

Scott Cassidy got the win and Jason Kershner earned his second
save.

Game notes
X-rays on Wooten's forearm were negative. Red Sox manager
Terry Francona said his condition would be checked Wednesday
morning before a decision is made on whether he'll make the trip to
Jupiter to face Florida. ... Boston leads the Mayor's Cup series
against Minnesota 2-1. The teams, who both play in Fort Myers, face
each other three more times.

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