Dustin Pedroia

MINNEAPOLIS – There have been six occasions where a Red Sox players has played in every single one of his team’s regular season games since the schedule was expanded to 162 game — Jim Rice (1978), Bill Buckner (’85), George Scott (’66), Carl Yastrzemski (’69) and Dwight Evans, who did it both in ’82 and ’84.

Could Dustin Pedroia be next? He is, after all, the last man standing on the Red Sox who has played in every one of the team’s games this season after the only other candidate, Jacoby Ellsbury, received Sunday off.

“I don’t have goals,” Pedroia reminded. “I’m just trying to play today. I’ll worry about tomorrow if we wake up. Day by day by day by day. That’s it.”

Pedroia has come close before, playing in 159 games in ’11. It is, however, traditionally an elusive feat for many in baseball with managers attempting to counteract the wear and tear that comes with this day and age of baseball.

Last season, there were four players – Starlin Castro, Prince Fielder, Adam Jones, Ichiro Suzuki – who never took a day off.

“Pedey will fight that one tooth and nail,” said Red Sox manager regarding the possibility of sitting Pedroia down for a day. “He’s the last man standing right now,and that’s probably the way he likes it.

“If it comes to that, he and I will set down and talk. As well as he’s playing, as good as he feels, as headstrong as he can be with not wanting to come out, all that is taken into account. … Pedey is the heartbeat of this team, and you don’t want to cutout the heart.”

Stephen Drew

MINNEAPOLIS — Stephen Drew was out of the Red Sox’ lineup for a second straight game after aggravating his back during an eighth-inning slide. The shortstop was optimistic, however, regarding the possibility of returning within the next few days.

“I hope so. I don’t plan on sitting out much longer,” said Drew when asked if believed a return was imminent. “I know I needed that day [Saturday], and then we have the quick turnaround [Sunday afternoon]. Give it one more day and hopefully it kind of settles down and we get back after it.”

Drew described as a “hyperextension on my spine,” having slid in awkwardly while legging out a double.

For May, the shortstop is hitting .321 with a .969 OPS. He was replaced in the lineup by Pedro Ciriaco, who collected a pair of hits while subbing Saturday.

“It’s not so much a surprise as it is being cautious because it’s your back,” Drew said. “Yesterday going into the cage, throwing and trying to do that motion, it wasn’t feeling so good. Throwing more so than the hitting, twisting and stuff. I actually threw first to see how that felt and it was just in the same place I felt it the night before.”

Jacoby Ellsbury

MINNEAPOLIS — With Shane Victorino’s back well enough to play, Jacoby Ellsbury will get his first day off of the season. Victorino is in the lineup against Minneosta lefty Pedro Hernandez, playing center field and hitting leadoff, a spot he hit 31 times last season.

Not starting for the Red Sox for a second straight game is shortstop Stephen Drew, who injured his back during an eighth-inning slide Friday night. Pedro Ciriaco replaces Drew at shortstop, having notched a pair of hits Saturday night.

Here is the Red Sox lineup as they look for the sweep at Target Field:

Shane Victorino CF

Jonny Gomes LF

Dustin Pedroia 2B

David Ortiz DH

Mike Napoli 1B

Daniel Nava RF

Will Middlebrooks 3B

Jarrod Saltlamacchia C

Pedro Ciriaco SS

John Lackey P

To see all the matchups, click here.

Ryan Dempster

MINNEAPOLIS — It had never happened to John Farrell before. The Red Sox manager hadn’t ever gone to the mound and allowed a pitcher to talk him into staying in a game.

But that’s exactly what happened Saturday night.

With Ryan Dempster sitting at 122 pitches (four more than any Red Sox pitcher had thrown in a single game this season), the Red Sox clinging to a three-run lead with two outs in the fifth inning and Minnesota’s Jamey Carroll coming up, Farrell strolled to the mound for what appeared to be the execution of a pitching change.

But Dempster told his manager he had enough left to get that inning’s final out. That was good enough for Farrell.

“Well, he kind of talked his way into it,” said Farrell of Dempster after the Red Sox’ 12-5 win over Minnesota. “In hindsight, probably should have made the move at the time, but still, it’s a veteran guy who was fine physically in terms of his arm, he didn’t feel anything. But trying to get him the last out of the fifth to give him a chance to win.”

Five pitches later, Carroll rifled a single into right, scoring Pedro Florimon and bringing up the potential game-tying run to the plate in the form of Joe Mauer. That would be it for Dempster, whose pitch total was the highest since Sept. 13, 2011, and marked just the second time since 2001 he had reached such heights.

“Well, [pitching coach] Juan [Nieves] and I were talking about the fact I make a trip to the mound and don’t make a pitching change, that’s a rarity,” Farrell said. “You want to give the guy every opportunity to record a win but at that point the game was in jeopardy as well as the high number of pitches. It’s a delicate balance but at some point that decision had to be made.”

“He just asked me if I had enough in the tank to get the last hitter. I did. I made a good pitch,” said Dempster, who threw four sliders and a splitter to Carroll. “Jamey went out and hit a pitch a foot off the plate down around the other batter’s box. He threw his bat at it and hats off to him. I made a pitch there and it wasn’t quite good enough.”

The end result was a frustrating, 4 2/3-inning outing in which the starter allowed five runs on eight hits and six walks.

“I just couldn’t throw it where I wanted to throw it,” Dempster said of his fastball. “I kept missing away with it, missing up with it, missing off the plate with it. I didn’t really have any of my pitches tonight. That’s frustrating when you’re out there and can’t throw your fastball where you want, can’t throw your split where you want and can’t throw your slider where you want. Just have to work on it between starts and get them next time.”

Neither Farrell nor Dempster thought that extra rest would be needed despite the elevated pitch count. The last time he totaled as many pitches, the righty did bounce back to turn in two solid outings (13 innings, 4 runs).

“I’m a pretty good judge of my body. I’m going to do what I need to get ready,” the pitcher said. He added, “I was tired. But you’ve just got to go out there and recover. Recovery days are huge.”

David Ortiz

MINNEAPOLIS — David Ortiz is at it again.

The Red Sox designated hitter almost single-handedly carried his team to an 12-5 win over the Twins Saturday night at Target Field, with Ortiz claiming the 40th multi-home run game of his career via a pair of blasts. It marked the fourth time in Ortiz’ career he has claimed six RBIs, having last accomplished the feat Aug. 12, 2008.

It was the fourth straight win for the Red Sox.

In the 21 games he has notched at least one hit (out of 24), Ortiz is hitting .420, and is 9-for-19 on the current road trip. At Target Field, the DH is hitting .500 (19-for-38) with five home runs.

“It used to be, but not any more,” said Ortiz when asked if the success meant anything more that it was against his old team. “I just go about my business. You guys see me try to hit the moon every time I go to hit everywhere. It’s not new.”

Also helping the Sox’ offensive onslaught was Daniel Nava, whose seventh-inning, two-run helped cap a game-changing four-run frame for the Sox. The outfielder joined Will Middlebrooks, Dustin Pedroia and Ortiz as members of the Red Sox claim multi-hit games.

The were moments of discomfort for the Red Sox, especially in the fifth inning when Ryan Dempster couldn’t manage to get the final out of the frame before being removed for Clayton Mortensen. Red Sox manager John Farrell left the starter in for 127 pitches (the second-most he had thrown since 2001), having had to watch the Twins bring the potential go-ahead run to the plate.

“Might have been our best offensive night of the year,” said Red Sox manager John Farrell. “We worked deep counts, we drove the baseball, a big night by David again, Daniel Nava continues to drive the ball with some authority but we had good at-bats up and down the lineup all night tonight and as it turns out, we needed every run. The middle innings kind of got a little dicey for us, tried to get Ryan through that fifth inning with every available pitch but we had gotten to the point where I had to make a move there.”

Here is what went right (and wrong) in the Red Sox’ 26th win of the season:

WHAT WENT RIGHT

Ortiz got the Red Sox on the board right away in the first inning, launching a three-run homer well up into the right field seats with one out. It was Ortiz’ fourth home run at Target Field in 41 plate appearances. The blast scored Jacoby Ellsbury (single) and Pedroia (walk).

Ortiz accounted for the Sox’ second run, as well, ripping a single into right field to score Jonny Gome in the third. Gomes had drawn a one-out walk, which was followed by Pedroia’s infield single. The hit allowed for a 4-1 Red Sox lead.

With runners on second and third with one out in the second, Aaron Hicks hit a slow ground ball just inside the bag at third base. Middlebrooks managed to back-hand the ball and fire home to catcher Ryan Lavarnway. The Red Sox proceeded to execute a nifty 5-2-6-1 putout after a brief rundown, keeping runners at first and second.

Pedroia extended the Red Sox’ lead to three runs with an RBI double in the fifth, scoring Gomes. The second baseman is now 7-for13 with runners in scoring position and nobody out this season. He also is hitting .410 over the last 10 games with five doubles, five RBI and 11 runs scored.

The Red Sox extended their lead to 7-2 in the fifth thanks to Nava’s sacrifice fly and a run-scoring single out of Lavanrway. For Nava, it was his 12th RBI in 17 plate appearances when facing a righty with a man on third.

With the bases loaded, one out and the Red Sox leading by two in the sixth, Aaron Hicks lofted a shallow fly ball into right field. Pedroia not only went back to make a basket catch, but whirled around and fired a strike to Lavarnway in time to get Ryan Doumit trying to tag up. (Lavarnway absorbed a fairly sizable collision in completing the double play.)

“That’s the first time I’ve completed a backwards somersault in a long time,” Lavarnway said. “So I’m pretty happy with it.” Regarding the collision, the catcher added, “You know what I think he might have go the worst out of it. I think my face mask might have hit him in the face. I’m not a small person, so…”

Napoli, who had drawn just 11 walks this season, claimed three free passes for the first time as a Red Sox. It was a feat he managed four times in 2012 on the way to earning 56 walks for the season.

WHAT WENT WRONG

Immediately after seemingly getting out of a jam in the second inning with the 5-2-6-1 double play, Pedro Florimon came right back and singled in the hosts first run. Florimon now has hits in four of the five games he has seen Boston pitching this season. Minnesota did strand a pair in the inning when Dempster fanned Joe Mauer.

The Twins cut the Red Sox’ lead to 4-2 in the fourth when Justin Morneau singled in Mauer. Dempster was able to get out of the inning without any further damage, but had already thrown 97 pitches through four.

The fifth was a disaster for Dempster and the Sox, with the righty quickly running out of gas even before Jamey Carroll sent the pitcher to the showers with five-pitch at-bat, culminating in an RBI single. The good news for Dempster and the Red Sox is the last time he threw as many as 127 pitches (in 2011) he came back with two strong outings (4 runs, 13 innings). The pitch total was the most by a starter who didn’t make it through five innings since Carlos Zambrano (2004).

“Throwing strikes. That was a big problem,” Dempster said. “I just didn’t have any command tonight. That sucks. But at the end of the day, we won the game and that’s really all that matters. You can take positives. I fought out of some bases-loaded jams early in the game that kept the game close. Just didn’t hang in there to get the win, but we won the game.”

Jacoby Ellsbury

Red Sox manager John Farrell had planned to give Jacoby Ellsbury his first day off of the season Saturday night, but Shane Victorino’s back still wasn’t quite healthy enough to allow for the outfielder’s return to the lineup. Victorino would have hit leadoff and played centerfield.

Farrell did say prior to the Red Sox’ game against the Twins Saturday night at Target Field that there is some hope that Victorino is ready to return for the teams’ series finale.

“He was hopeful for today last night,” said Farrell of Victorino, who left Thursday night’s game in the ninth inning after colliding with the Tropicana Field fence. “He’s a hard guy to keep out of the lineup because he wants to get in every day and he’ll probably push it or risk it a little bit more than maybe we’re comfortable with. I think the additional day will be good.

Ellsbury is hitting .247 with a .312 on-base percentage, having stolen 13 bases in 15 attempts. Heading into Saturday night’s game, the center fielder was 2-for-15 with three walks on the current road trip. Both Twins starters for the series’ final two games — Scott Diamond and Pedro Hernandez — are left-handers.

“Still some inconstancies with the timing,” said Farrell regarding Ellsbury. ” There’s time where he’ll show good patience, he’ll work deep in the count, and the next at-bat may be a little bit over aggressive trying to make something happen. And it comes down to timing. We see him where he’s squaring up some balls, he gets on base and he’ll create some havoc. But the consistency to which he’s made himself known for is a little elusive right now. He’s a key part for us. We need him to, and we may need to work with him, to get him going everyday. But his consistency has a huge effect and a  huge impact on who we are offensively.”

In other injury news, Stephen Drew experienced some pain in his back while running through some hitting, fielding and throwing drills earlier Saturday afternoon, leading to the shortstop’s exclusion from the lineup. Drew, who tweaked his back while beating out a double in the eighth inning of Friday night’s game, had been slated to hit seventh against Diamond.

MINNEAPOLIS — Shane Victorino is out of the lineup for a second consecutive day after suffering a back injury on Thursday night against the Rays. With the Red Sox facing a left-handed starter in Scott Diamond of the Twins, Jonny Gomes — who had the game-winning sac fly in the 10th inning of Friday’s game — will bat second and play left field, with Daniel Nava in right.

Similarly, with a southpaw on the mound, Ryan Lavarnway will get the start behind the plate for Ryan Dempster. Stephen Drew will also get a day off, with Pedro Ciriaco at shortstop.

RED SOX LINEUP

Jacoby Ellsbury, CF
Jonny Gomes, LF
Dustin Pedroia, 2B
David Ortiz, DH
Mike Napoli, 1B
Daniel Nava, RF
Will Middlebrooks, 3B
Ryan Lavarnway, C
Pedro Ciriaco, SS

Ryan Dempster, RP