MINNEAPOLIS -- Backed by a strong start from Clay Buchholz, the Boston Red Sox (21-25) stayed within reach but couldn't muster the hits to beat the surprisingly successful Minnesota Twins (27-18) at Target Field on Tuesday night.

Batting from the bottom of the order, catcher Sandy Leon led the Red Sox with two of Boston's seven hits in the 2-1 loss.

Slow starters: Brian Dozier drilled a leadoff double for the second-straight game against the Red Sox to help the offensive Twins jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. The Red Sox have fallen behind first in seven of the last 10 games. Boston is 4-6 in that stretch.

Seven apiece: Buchholz (2-6) lasted 7 1/3 innings and allowed two earned runs on seven hits in the loss. He has now lasted at least seven innings in each of his last three starts, posting a 2.03 ERA in that span. Mike Pelfrey (4-1) also lasted seven innings for the Twins in a pitching duel featuring strong defense from both teams.

Double-double: Four double plays were had on the night, two from each side as Boston followed base hits from Mookie Betts and Sandy Leon by grounding into inning-ending double plays and short stop Xander Bogaerts helped turn two double plays for the Red Sox. After a day off on Monday, Rusney Castillo flashed some fancy glove work in right field with two diving grabs, including one to end the eighth inning. Twelve batters were left on base between both sides, six apiece.

Slip 'n slide: A rainy Minnesota day kept the dirt slick even after a nearly 90-minute rain delay. Napoli lost his footing chasing a ground ball at first and made the play with a toss to Buchholz that ended the second inning. In the sixth inning, Dustin Pedroia seemed to slip while collecting a routine ground ball and just made the throw for the out at first. Pedroia committed an error in the fourth inning on a bobbled corral that allowed Eduardo Escobar to reach first.

Lefty vs. lefty: Down 2-1 with two on and two outs in the eighth, Pablo Sandoval switched to bat from the right side of the plate against Twins' left-handed closer Glen Perkins and drilled a line drive to center field to load the bases. It was just Sandoval's fourth hit against left-handed pitchers all season. Hanley Ramirez flied out to right field to end the inning. Ramirez failed to reach base for the fourth time in seven games and is now batting 4-for-26 in that stretch.

Ortiz reaches base: In his first at-bat from the No. 5 batting spot, David Ortiz snapped his three-game hitless streak with a left field double to the warning track on a full count. Mike Napoli, just named AL Player of the Week last week, stepped up with a RBI single to center that scored Ortiz and pulled the Red Sox within 2-1 in the second inning. Napoli's hitting streak is now at five games.

Up next: Rick Porcello (4-3, 5.07 ERA) will take the mound Wednesday against the Twins' Phil Hughes (3-4, 4.50 ERA).