Another night, another questionable zone for the Red Sox in Minnesota, who trail the Twins 1-0 in the fifth after a difficult first inning for Jon Lester.
After a wasted leadoff infield single from Jacoby Ellsbury, the Sox took the field in the bottom of the first. Lester managed to get the first out, and picked off Ben Revere after his line drive to center, but with two outs things fell apart. Joe Mauer walked, Michael Cuddyer singled into right, and Jim Thome brought home the run as the third straight baserunner to reach with two outs.
In the meantime the Red Sox have had their offense shut down by a combination of Nick Blackburn and home plate umpire Ted Barrett. While Blackburn has been solid, he's been helped out by a zone that's been conspicuously larger for him than for Jon Lester. The most egregious instance came in the second, when David Ortiz was called out on strikes with not a single pitch being thrown close to the zone.