BOSTON — Kenta Maeda reported some "general soreness" after his last start, and was given five extra days off to get completely healthy.
This time, the soreness will be much more specific.
A line drive by Jarren Duran smashed Maeda's left ankle in the second inning on Thursday, and the Twins pitcher crumpled to the ground in pain — though not until after he scrambled after the ball and threw Duran out at first base to end the inning — and his day.
Once the veteran righthander was helped off the field after lying on the ground for three minutes, the pain began for the Twins. Emilio Pagán allowed six runs in the third inning, Jorge Alcala three more in the fifth, and the Twins lost to Boston 11-5 on the 111th anniversary of Fenway Park's opening.
The loss sent the Twins home with a 3-4 record on the East Coast road trip, a disappointing result after opening the journey with a nine-run first inning a week earlier in Yankee Stadium.
And it likely sends them home without a member of their starting rotation for at least a week or two. Maeda, returning this season from Tommy John elbow surgery, was diagnosed with a bruised ankle. X-rays showed no fracture, and he was limping around on the ankle after the game.
Without Maeda, Twins' pitching quickly went from bad to comical. Pagán, who hadn't allowed a run since the opening weekend, was pummeled by Boston's lineup, at one point giving up five consecutive two-out hits.
Alcala relieved him and wasn't much better; the righthander surrendered two hits, including a Green Monster homer to You Chang, who was 2-for-28 until then.
And in the eighth, after Jovani Moran gave up one final run, Willi Castro was summoned from shortstop to end the inning with his 43-mph "slider."
At least Castro provided some offense, too, against Red Sox sidearmer Tanner Houck, who improved to 3-0. The reserve infielder, batting .158 entering the game, doubled and scored on Max Kepler's double in the fifth inning, then hit his first homer as a Twin in the sixth, a two-run shot.
Kepler ended the game a little embarrassed. After reliever Ryan Brasier loaded the bases in the ninth, Edouard Julien drove home the Twins' fifth run on a single to center. But Kepler rounded third and stopped, then decided to return to third — only to be thrown out by first baseman Triston Casas' quick relay.
