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Delmon Young led off the ninth with a single, and advanced on a sacrifice by Matt Tolbert. Adam Everett popped out, Young stole third without a throw, and Carlos Gomez walked and moved up on a steal.
Then Lamb, who entered the game after second baseman Brendan Harris left with a tight right hamstring, hit a 1-2 pitch from Papelbon (2-2) to win it.
Lamb, in his first season with the Twins, entered the game batting just .207. Jesse Crain (1-1) pitched a scoreless ninth, negating a big hit by Mike Lowell in the fifth.
Two perfect innings by reliever Hideki Okajima preceded Papelbon after a rough start by Jon Lester, who gave up eight hits and five runs — three earned.
He was locked with Minnesota’s Boof Bonser in what sure wasn’t a pitching duel. Lester labored through 5 1/3 innings, Bonser through four-plus.
The Twins led 5-2 in the fifth inning when Dustin Pedroia reached on a single that resulted from a routine groundball to second baseman Harris, who hesitated on his throw and was too late.
Boston quickly loaded the bases, and Lowell hit a two-run double. Kevin Youkilis tied the game at 5 with an RBI groundout. Then Lowell, who is 10-for-24 with three doubles, two homers and seven RBIs in the last five games, raced home on Juan Rincon’s wild pitch to give the Red Sox the lead. He slid underneath Rincon’s tag and knocked the right-hander off his feet.
Young nearly tied it for Minnesota when he came from first and tried to score on Adam Everett’s two-out double in the sixth against David Aardsma. But a perfect relay throw from Pedroia beat him to end the inning and preserve Boston’s lead.
Shortstop Julio Lugo made his 12th error in 35 games, bobbling a soft grounder hit by Gomez with two outs in the second inning that preceded a two-run single by Harris that made it 4-2 Twins.
Manny Ramirez made a lazy play in left field that led to Minnesota’s fifth run in the fourth, when Tolbert stretched a double out of a soft liner. He scored on a single by Gomez, before an inning-ending double play by Harris.
Lester became quite familiar to Twins fans during the daily speculation that droned throughout the winter about what the Red Sox were willing to give up in a trade for pitching standout Johan Santana, who wound up with the New York Mets instead.
Boston was more than happy to hang on to Lester, who recovered from chemotherapy treatments for lymphoma in time to win the World Series clincher last fall. Manager Terry Francona assured the lanky lefty twice in offseason visits that he was valued by the organization and an important part of the Red Sox and their stacked rotation.
This start was a statistical regression from his last two, over which he yielded only one run and five hits in 14 innings and struck out 11. But Lester improved to 14-4 in 36 career games and walked only one after issuing seven over his last two appearances.
Bonser gave up seven hits and three walks, while striking out three.
Notes: Stolen bases by Youkilis and Lugo gave Boston a team-record 22 consecutive swipes, a streak that ended when J.D. Drew was thrown out trying to steal second by Joe Mauer. ... Tolbert started at 3B again, with Lamb beginning on the bench. Manager Ron Gardenhire likes Tolbert’s energy and speed, so more of a platoon is expected there for now. “Until we get a good swing going,” Gardenhire said of Lamb, “and then we go from there.” ... Boston’s Triple-A team in Pawtucket was rained out Friday, preventing rehab assignees 1B Sean Casey (hip) and IF Alex Cora (elbow) from playing. Both players are still expected to come off the disabled list during this four-game series.
