The Red Sox staged a late comeback, but had a 2-2 tie broken in the eighth when Jon Lester couldn't survive the inning, leading to a 5-2 loss.
Lester started out struggling in the first inning, giving up a run on three hits and a walk to allow a run to score despite picking Ben Revere off of first. Lester would settle down until the late innings, but was touched for another run in the sixth when Joe Mauer doubled Revere in.
The Sox would stage a late rally against Minnesota, taking advantage of a defensive error in the seventh, and scoring again on a David Ortiz home run in the eighth. But with Jon Lester trying to take on an eighth frame, the Twins struck back. Joe Mauer drew a leadoff walk, and then managed to score the go-ahead run with one out on Jim Thome's double.
The scoring wasn't over, with the Twins putting up another pair of runs off of Lester and Alfredo Aceves, but it would not matter. The Red Sox went down in order in the ninth, and the hopes of a sweep were dead.