Twins Pulverize Red Sox Ace Garrett Crochet With 11 Runs in 2 Innings

What on earth just happened?

Coming into Monday night's series opener between the Twins and the Red Sox at Target Field, Boston had the clear advantage in the pitching matchup. The visitors were sending their ace, left-hander Garrett Crochet, and his 3.12 ERA to the mound. The Twins were starting Bailey Ober, whose ERA through three starts was 5.27 and whose fastball velocity is the lowest of any MLB starter.

Then the game started — and not a single soul could've predicted how the first two innings played out.

Ober set the Red Sox down in order in the top of the first. In the bottom half of the inning, the Twins got doubles from Austin Martin and Luke Keaschall to open the scoring, followed by an RBI single from Ryan Jeffers. Brooks Lee then drove in a run with an infield single with the bases loaded, and a Trevor Story error at shortstop allowed another run to score. Just like that, it was a 4-0 lead for the Twins, who batted around and made Crochet throw 31 pitches in the first.

The Twins put up a 4-spot in the 1st inning 👏 pic.twitter.com/FJNCVJbrlb
— MLB (@MLB) April 14, 2026

And the Twins weren't done. Not even close. After another scoreless inning from Ober, Byron Buxton led off the bottom of the second with a single up the middle. Martin and Keaschall walked to load the bases with no outs. Jeffers then hit his second RBI single in as many innings. On the very next pitch, Josh Bell followed that with a booming two-run double off the right-center wall to make it 7-0.

As if that wasn't enough, Victor Caratini also ambushed Crochet's first pitch, demolishing a cutter for a 423-foot three-run homer into the upper deck in left. That made it a stunning 10-0 lead before an out had been recorded in the bottom of the second. Two batters later, light-hitting third baseman Ryan Kreidler unloaded on a first-pitch fastball for a 438-foot blast that nearly reached the third deck.

Victor Caratini to the second deck

IT IS 10-0 TWINS 😳 pic.twitter.com/by62CjnjsA
— MLB (@MLB) April 14, 2026

Ryan Kreidler smashes a 438-foot home run now

The @Twins can't stop scoring! pic.twitter.com/szi3xj7hq2
— MLB (@MLB) April 14, 2026

Kreidler's homer sent Crochet to a very early exit. His final line was 1.2 innings pitched with 9 hits, 3 walks, no strikeouts, and 11 runs allowed, 10 of which were earned. Before Monday night, Crochet had never allowed more than seven earned runs in a game.

It should be emphasized that this is not some random pitcher the Twins just destroyed. Crochet has made two straight All-Star games and finished second in American League Cy Young voting behind Tarik Skubal last year. He threw 205.1 innings in 2025 and had a 2.59 ERA. This game alone almost guaranteed that he will not match that ERA in 2026. He went from 3.12 to 7.58 for the season.

The Twins might have something brewing on offense. They came into Monday trailing only the Astros in runs scored among AL teams. They've struggled against lefties in recent years, but the Twins have now beaten Skubal, crushed Framber Valdez, and utterly eviscerated Crochet within just the last week.

Leading 11-3 in the fourth inning when this story was published, they're well on their way to a seventh win in their last eight games.

Update: The Twins went on to hit two more home runs and beat the Red Sox 13-6.