Twins Start Swinging Lumber, Belt 3 Homers

Craig Monroe went 2-for-4 with two of light-hitting Minnesota's three home runs and four RBI, and the Twins hung on for a 9-8 victory over the Boston Red Sox tonight. Joe Nathan gave up two runs in the ninth but still managed to record his 12th save in as many chances.

The Twins, who entered with a major league-low 17 homers, had yet to hit more than one in a game before tonight's binge. Monroe had his third career multihomer game and Adam Everett also went deep during a brutal start for Tim Wakefield (3-2) who gave up seven runs, six earned, on seven hits in just 2.2 innings. (More MLB stories.)