MINNEAPOLIS - With the fifth inning not yet spiraled out of control for the Red Sox, there was a bright moment for Jacoby Ellsbury. His left arm was red and carpet-burned after the game, the likely result of his skid along the turf in center field after making a diving catch that left Jon Lester uttering an expletive in admiration, and left Delmon Young out of luck.
Ellsbury kept his eye on the ball as it sliced away from him toward right-center. He extended his glove just enough, with an extra stab at the end. He came down hard, sliding with ball in glove.
He got up, took a look at his arm, and got some congratulations from teammates.
"I thought it was a great catch, great catch," manager Terry Francona said. "The one thing that's real hard is you can't ever take your eye off the ball, to check the wall.
"Some guys are really good at maybe putting their head down and running to the spot. You don't do that here. You may find the spot and never find the ball."
Though the rest of the inning didn't go well - with the Twins scoring their decisive five runs - it was a surefire way to make the highlight shows.
"It's tough actually at times to get fly balls here with the ceiling," said Ellsbury, "but I ended up getting a good jump on the ball over my left shoulder, fortunately made the catch.
"I always like those ones kind of over your shoulder. They're always fun to make."
And it wasn't Ellsbury's only big moment. Another came early, as they often have during a hitting streak that reached 21 games last night on a first-inning single up the middle.
He ended up with two hits, scoring both runs for the Sox. Over the streak, Ellsbury has batted .333 (32 for 96). In each of the last seven games, Ellsbury has left little suspense, extending his streak in the first three innings.
He's also stolen 10 bases over the streak, including two last night.
"The biggest thing for me is just coming to the yard prepared, ready to go every single day," Ellsbury said. "Getting my early work in. Just it's fun. It's nice to come to the yard when you've got something going like that.
"It's always nice to get a hit rolling to start the game. Just with the lineup we have, the guys hitting behind me, just put a little pressure on the starting pitcher from the get-go, make them throw a little bit more pitches.
"Regardless of if the streak's going or not, it's always nice to get on base that first AB."
Imperfect situation
Clay Buchholz obviously pitched very well for Pawtucket Monday - he came within three outs of a perfect game - and the reports reflected that. "There was a lot of adjectives that were very complimentary," Francona said. Buchholz allowed a single to lead off the ninth inning, the only Louisville base runner of the game. When asked if there was a fear of frustrating the starter by keeping him in Triple A, Francona said, "If the call-ups were on their schedule, we'd have a 55-man roster. We talked to him about that. We're really blunt with everybody. It might not always seem fair. Maybe it's not. But if you can truly do it, there will be a time. Last year might have been the other way. When we said we wanted Buch to kind of knock the door down, he's sort of trying to do that. Good for him. We're pleased. I mean, beyond pleased." . . . Francona downplayed the two-run home runs that
Jonathan Papelbon allowed in his last two outings. He said
Omir Santos of the Mets was looking for a particular pitch and got a poorly located version of what he was looking for. As for
Joe Mauer, Francona called him the hottest hitter on the planet. The two homers raised Papelbon's ERA to 2.57.
Kotsay a player
Mark Kotsay played seven innings for the PawSox at first base last night, going 1 for 4. He will take the day off today before playing the weekend in Triple A . . . The Sox were 1 for 11 with runners in scoring position last night, and are now 4-12 in games in which they don't hit a home run . . .
Dustin Pedroia has a nine-game hitting streak, during which he's batting .441 (15 for 34) . . . The Twins had lost six straight to the Sox at the Metrodome, their last win coming on May 12, 2008.
Disputing the call
Ramon Ramirez was expressing his frustration before last night's game about a call in the series against Seattle 10 days ago. In the finale of the series, an error was given to
Nick Green on a bad throw to first base, putting the eventual winning run on base. Initially the ruling was a two-base error, but it was changed to a single with an error to get the runner to second, meaning the resulting run was earned. It was only the second earned run for Ramirez this season, resulting in his 0.74 ERA. "This is my career," Ramirez explained. "I work hard for my career." . . . Major League Baseball announced the individuals who would represent each of the clubs at the draft.
Tommy Harper will do the honors for the Sox . . .
Rocco Baldelli was removed from Monday's game before his at-bat in the ninth inning, but Francona said he was fine, that removing him was "more just being careful."
Amalie Benjamin can be reached at abenjamin@globe.com. 
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