Red Sox Begin Spring Schedule With 7-6 Loss To Twins

Red Sox - 010 032 0 - 6 11 2Twins - 050 002 0 - 7 6 0Jeter Downs singled and homered and drove in three runs, and Bobby Dalbec and Michael Chavis also homered, but Boston dropped the spring's first Grapefruit League game to the Twins 7-6, on Sunday.

The Red Sox fell behind 5-1, but came back to grab a 6-5 lead (briefly) before losing it when Minnesota scored two unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth.

Manager Alex Cora was impressed with Downs, who has played only 12 games above Class A and will likely start the year in Portland (AA):

He's a good player. . . . We like him a lot. Slow heartbeat, it seems like. Even during the drills, he puts good swings on the ball. Going opposite field for…