Justin Slaten, Red Sox squander late lead in stinging setback to Twins

For all that has gone wrong for the Red Sox, they have found comfort in — and success with — the big arms in the back of the bullpen. Justin Slaten, Garrett Whitlock, and Aroldis Chapman have been almost automatic, helping keep the season afloat. They have been The Protectors.

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So it stung all the more Friday night when one of the strongest parts of their roster faltered in an 8-6 loss to the Twins, ending the Sox’ win streak at three games — still stuck as their longest of the year.

Slaten entered in the seventh inning with a three-run advantage. Then he gave up a pair of two-run home runs — to Byron Buxton and Austin Martin — in a span of seven pitches, inspiring boos from the not-quite-a-sellout Fenway Park crowd of 34,740.

The Red Sox (22-28) had been 16-1 when leading after six.

“At some point, there’s going to be a crack in there,” interim manager Chad Tracy said.

Slaten echoed: “That’s just the game we play. Sometimes you just got to go out there and try and battle with what you got, and it didn’t go my way.”

He had gone 15 consecutive appearances, dating to September, since giving up an earned run, the third-longest active streak in the majors.

It was the first time a Sox reliever blew a lead of three runs or more in one inning or less since July 2 — the last game before their season-saving win streak.

Slaten’s appearance began innocuously enough, with a leadoff single by Luke Keaschall followed by a strikeout of Alex Jackson.

Buxton nearly was retired, but on a foul pop-up, first baseman Willson Contreras and second baseman Marcelo Mayer converged and neither caught it. It went off Contreras’ glove.

“It was a really tough play,” Contreras said through an interpreter. “If I make that play, I’m the best player in the world. But if I miss that play, then I’m not.”

Buxton hammered the ninth pitch from Slaten an estimated 419 feet over the Green Monster.

Slaten answered by walking Brooks Lee on four pitches, only one sort of close to the strike zone. Martin banged a hanging sweeper, also over the Monster, for the Twins’ first lead.

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“If you’re a reliever, you want to be in one of those spots. It’s what you get out of bed for in the mornings,” Slaten said. “I’m blessed to be able to go in these situations. And it’s unfortunate that tonight I didn’t do my job.”

The Sox stranded two runners in the eighth. In the ninth, after the Twins (24-27) tacked on another run, the Red Sox put the leadoff man on — when Jarren Duran swung for strike three at a pitch so far from the zone that it skipped past Jackson, the catcher, and over the backstop netting.

Ceddanne Rafaela’s fly ball stopped at the warning track in center field. Wilyer Abreu grounded into a double play to end the game.

The Red Sox positioned themselves well with a four-run first inning — the beginning of a successful night against rookie lefthander Connor Prielipp (four innings, six runs).

Abreu (double) and Contreras (triple) each drove in and scored a run in the opening rally.

Contreras punctuated his sprint with a belly-flop slide, to the delight of teammates in the dugout. After pounding his chest, he asked for the baseball, which represented his 1,000th career hit (and 13th triple).

“It feels really special for me considering where I come from, the effort it took to get here,” Contreras said.

Lefthander Payton Tolle survived a seemingly random 33-pitch, three-run second inning and dominated the rest of the time. The Twins totaled four hits and one walk in that frame and zero hits and one walk in all of the others.

“Good lord, that felt like 50 pitches,” Tolle said. “Second inning got squirrely on me, but I thought it was good to come back, have good innings after.”

Altogether, the six innings and three runs made for a quality start — Tolle’s third in four outings this month. He retired 14 of 15 batters after the blip. And he totaled nine strikeouts (to two walks).

Tracy lifted Tolle after 85 pitches. He had the game exactly where he wanted it, handing a lead to his late-inning triumvirate.

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“It was pretty clear cut,” Tracy said. “He had done his job.”