Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval mishandled a throw on a bunt in the ninth inning, and the Minnesota Twins broke away from Boston 8-4 Thursday for a four-game split.
Torii Hunter hit his 200th homer in a Twins uniform and added two singles. Kurt Suzuki singled three times, helping Minnesota to its ninth win in 12 games.
Blake Swihart hit his first major league homer and Dustin Pedroia also had a solo homer for Boston, which has lost eight of 11.
The Twins trailed 4-0 going into the fifth. It was 4-all in the ninth when Minnesota put runners on first and second with no outs against Koji Uehara (2-3).
Joe Mauer bunted and catcher Swihart threw to third — low, but catchable— and the ball went Sandoval’s glove, allowing Brian Dozier to score the go-ahead run.
Aaron Thompson (1-1) worked one scoreless inning as the Twins assumed sole possession of first place in the Central Division.
