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MINNEAPOLIS -- Will Middlebrooks gave Boston a comeback victory the night before with a big swing. This time, he dropped down a bunt to advance the go-ahead run. After losing 93 games last season, the Red Sox arent worried about style. A win is a win. Jonny Gomes hit a sacrifice fly in the 10th inning to lift the Red Sox past the Minnesota Twins 3-2 on Friday night. "We dont want to be the heart-attack kids, but its a good character check for us right away," Gomes said. The Red Sox have won three straight after losing 10 of their previous 14 games, while the Twins have dropped three in a row after winning six of nine. Twins reliever Josh Roenicke (1-1) gave up a single and a walk to open the 10th. After the sacrifice by Middlebrooks, Stephen Drew was intentionally walked to load the bases. Then Gomes sent a drive to centre field, where Aaron Hicks caught the ball but double-clutched on his throw after bumping into left fielder Oswaldo Arcia. Hicks didnt have a chance to get the speedy Dustin Pedroia. "I would have liked to have seen Hicks come up clean with that one and have a shot at throwing him out," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. At Tampa Bay on Thursday, Middlebrooks hit a three-run double in the ninth to give Boston a 4-3 victory. The only prior sacrifice of the second-year third basemans entire professional career came in 2008 for Class-A Lowell, but manager John Farrell didnt hesitate to call for the bunt. "Hes a very good athlete. Hes got good hand-eye co-ordination," Farrell said. "Knowing that it wasnt part of his game as an offensive player, still I thought the game situation called for it. And he executed it perfectly." Alex Wilson (1-0) picked up the victory by getting the last out of the ninth and Koji Uehara threw a perfect 10th for his first save, with closers Joel Hanrahan and Andrew Bailey both on the disabled list. Yes, the Red Sox relievers had a big hand in this, too, after Clay Buchholz recovered from an early two-run homer by Pedro Florimon, just the second time the right-hander was taken deep this season. Buchholz walked three, including one in the fifth while the Twins loaded the bases with one out. But struggling slugger Josh Willingham took a called third strike, and Justin Morneau flied out to left field at medium depth. Morneaus 11-game hitting streak ended. Starting with Willingham, the Red Sox retired 17 straight batters to finish the game. "Weve got a good staff. Thats really what it comes down to," said Buchholz, who struck out nine batters over seven innings, including five in a row spanning the first and second frames. He was stuck with a no-decision for the third straight start and couldnt match Tampa Bays Matt Moore with the second 7-0 record in the majors this year. Buchholzs ERA, second-lowest among American League qualifiers, actually rose nine points to 1.78. "Buchs throwing the ball really well. I just want to pick up wherever he leaves off," said Andrew Miller, who struck out three and went five up and five down. Florimon also had a hand in three double plays induced over six innings by Twins starter Vance Worley, who gave up just one unearned run on David Ortizs RBI single. The shortstop made a slick pivot and quick throw to end the third and the fifth on grounders hit by Pedroia. Florimon had a chance to start a fourth, with Brian Duensing pitching in the seventh, but Jacoby Ellsburys sharp bouncer glanced off his glove as he tried to make a sliding stop. The ball rolled into centre field for a single, and Gomes -- who led off with a walk -- scored to tie the game at 2. With Joe Mauer and his 14-game hitting streak on the bench because of a stiff back, the Twins had only two players in the lineup entering the game with a batting average better than Florimons .247. But Trevor Plouffe doubled off the wall to start the third, and with one out Florimon drove a first-pitch curveball just inside the foul pole and just over the right-field wall to put the Twins up 2-1. Buchholz has finished seven innings in all but one of his nine starts this year, against the Twins at home two weeks ago, and allowed more than two runs in only one turn, also in that game when the Twins scored four times against him. Buchholzs last home run surrendered was in his first start on April 3. "Team wins. Thats what this games about. Theres absolutely no disappointment," he said. NOTES: Morneau, whose 17 RBIs are the most in the majors in May, dropped to 6 for 8 with 13 RBIs with the bases loaded this season. ... Red Sox backup catcher David Ross, on the 7-day DL due to post-concussion symptoms, had an exam pushed back until Monday. He is still light-headed and fatigued. ... The Red Sox will send RH Ryan Dempster (2-4, 3.75 ERA) to the mound on Saturday, opposite LH Scott Diamond (3-3, 4.08 ERA) of the Twins. Both of them gave up six runs and took the loss in their last start. Custom New York Knicks Jerseys . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. Custom Atlanta Hawks Jerseys . Hargreaves began his career in 2008 with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers and has played with the Edmonton Eskimos and last season with the Saskatchewan Roughriders. http://www.customjerseysbasketball.com/custom-milwaukee-bucks-jerseys-567y.html . Ryan Garbutt had a goal and two assists as Dallas snapped a six-game losing streak with a 5-2 victory over the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday night. Custom Denver Nuggets Jerseys .4 million title. Ryan Riess emerged with the title after a session in which he started behind, but used expert skill to gather the chips to his side amid the unpredictability of no-limit Texas Hold em. Riess put his final opponent Jay Farber all-in with an Ace-King. Custom Orlando Magic Jerseys . General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. HOUSTON -- In these lean times for the Houston Astros, Chris Carter is showing more and more that he can be a difference-maker for this young team. Carter homered twice, including a go-ahead three-run shot in the seventh, to back seven strong innings from Bud Norris and give the Astros a 4-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Wednesday night. The victory breaks a five-game skid for the Astros, who had been shut out in their last two games. Carter broke a 22-inning scoring drought for Houston with his solo homer in the second off Roberto Hernandez (4-10) that tied it 1-1. He connected on a full-count pitch from Jake McGee on his second home run to make it 4-1 in the seventh. Carter leads the Astros with 17 homers and his 44 RBIs are tied for the team lead. He is the first Astro to reach 17 homers by July 3 since Lance Berkman in 2009. Just over halfway through the season, Carter is one homer shy of the 18 Justin Maxwell hit all of last season to lead the club. The Astros are enamoured with Carters power and impressed with his increased discipline at the plate recently. "He has a chance to hit 30 home runs and drive in 100," Houston manager Bo Porter said. "When you see that kind of progression and you see the adjustments being made, you really say to yourself moving forward that this guy has a chance to be a middle-of-the-order bat who can be very productive." He has reached base safely in 15 of his last 16 games and his hitting .315 with four homers and 10 RBIs in that span. Carter was just glad he could help the team get back on track after a tough couple of games. "Its nice to score some runs and get a win after the last two games where we didnt score and they outscored us by 20 runs," he said. "Im just happy we came out with a win right there." Norris (6-7) allowed six hits and one run with five strikeouts to break a three-game losing streak and pick up his first win since June 1. Jose Veras allowed a hit in a scoreless ninth for his 17th save. "Bud was absolutely outstanding," Porter said. "I thought he threw probably the best game of the season this year. His slider just had unbelievable depth ... hes our No. 1 guy and he pitched like a No. 1 guy again tonight." Hernandez allowed four hits and three runs in six-plus innings for his fourth consecutive loss. James Loney had two hits to extend his hitting streak to 14 games and Ben Zobrist drove in Tampa Bays only run with a sacrifice fly in the first. Carters homer in the second pinged off the facade on the wall above the Crawford Boxes in left field, giving the Astros their first earned run in 31 innings. It also broke a team record-tying 24-inning scoreless streak for Rays pitchers. It was the third time in team history theyd reached the mark. Jose Altuve singled wiith two outs in the third, but was caught stealing second to end the inning.dddddddddddd Hernandez starting rolling after that and retired the next nine straight. He ran into trouble in the seventh when Brett Wallace doubled with no outs before he was chased by a single from Jason Castro. He was replaced by McGee, and Carter sent his 98 mph fastball to the train tracks atop the wall in left field. It was Carters second multi-homer game of the season and of his career. "Carter hurt us," Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon said. "He didnt miss two pitches. That one from Jake (McGee) was properly struck. That is back wall anywhere. That was incredible. You have to give them credit for the way they bounced back today, and their pitcher set up the whole thing." Norris hasnt had much run support lately, with the Astros scoring just three runs combined in his last three losses. A relieved-looking Norris greeted Carter with a hug and a huge smile in the dugout after his homer put Houston on top. The feeling Norris had when as he watched Carters homer was simple. "Pure joy," he said. "CCs (Carter) done it a few times for me, so weve just got to keep it going." The Rays had trouble stringing together hits against Norris. Their best chance to add to their run total came in the fifth. Jose Molinas comebacker sailed just inches above Norriss head for a single to start the inning. Norris then struck out Yunel Escobar and Molina was caught stealing second on the play. Norris walked consecutive batters, but escaped the jam by retiring Zobrist for the third out. Escobar singled with one out in the seventh before Jennings grounded into a double play to end the inning. NOTES: The series wraps up Thursday when Tampa Bays Chris Archer opposes Jordan Lyles. ... Houston DH Carlos Pena was back in the lineup after taking time to travel to the Dominican Republic following the drowning death of his nephew. He returned to the team on Tuesday after missing two games, but did not play. Pena said it was a difficult time for his family, but the support the team showed him made it a bit easier. "We have a lot of signs around here that we have family first and thats something that I saw firsthand, how they reacted to this situation," Pena said. "They did everything they could to make sure my family was all right and taken care of, which I appreciate."... Evan Longoria was Tampa Bays designated hitter for the second straight game after missing the previous three games with plantar fasciitis in his right foot. Manager Joe Maddon said he doesnt know when the All-Star third baseman will feel good enough to play defence, but thats OK with him. "Well just have to wait to get him on the field, but we have him as a DH well take it," Maddon said. ' ' '