MINNEAPOLIS — Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers had to leave Wednesday night’s game with right hamstring tightness, but he indicated afterward the discomfort was far less severe than what plagued his left hamstring last season.

“I just felt that it was a little bit tight,” said Devers, who left after singling in the fifth inning and then advancing, slowly, to third on a double. “It’s not as bad as what I dealt with last year and hopefully I can go out there and play but it’s up to the coaches to see if they let me play on Friday.”

Manager Alex Cora said Devers was unlikely to play Friday when the Red Sox open a six-game homestand against the Blue Jays, but he said the setback looked to be a minor one.

“He’s OK, day to day, most likely we’ll stay away from him Friday,” Cora said. “He’ll get treatment (Thursday). He was OK at first, then when he got to third, I was like, ‘No, let’s not take a chance here.'”

Devers explained how it happened.

“I felt it immediately, especially after that hit,” Devers said of his infield single. “That’s why when I went to third, I couldn’t go as aggressively as I wanted to do and since I struggled with hamstring injuries last year I wanted to be more careful than anything so just came out of the game.”

Devers went 2 for 3, finishing with five hits and three runs scored in the three games against the Twins. The Red Sox won 9-4 on Wednesday night to take 2 of 3 at Target Field and finish their trip 5-1.

Mookie Betts extended his on-base streak to 12 games, going 2 for 3 with a triple, walk, run and RBI. Since his debut in 2014, only three AL batters have reached base three times in a game more times than Betts (164). Mike Trout leads the group at 237.

BRADLEY AMAZES AGAIN

Nelson Cruz’s double during the first inning Wednesday took a long deflection off the wall well beyond right fielder J.D. Martinez who ran to the warning track to attempt the catch.

Then out of nowhere appeared Jackie Bradley Jr. The center fielder sprinted into right field and threw out C.J. Cron who tried to score from first base.

“Every time he surprises me a little bit more,” said Red Sox starter Eduardo Rodriguez, who scattered eight hits over seven innings. “I mean, throws, catches, everything. Saved that run right there. That was huge for me. As soon as he hit that ball and I see the throw come in, I knew he’s probably out and he was out. So something really good to see every time you’re out there and see Jackie make those plays.”

“That throw he made tonight, he’s unbelievable out there,” said first baseman Michael Chavis. “There’s so many times balls are hit out there that I’m like, ‘Dang. That’s a double. That’s a home run.’ And then he’s just there out of nowhere. That play he made in Baltimore, the extra-innings robbed home run, I tell him at least once a week that that’s still the best play I’ve seen in my entire life. I’m still stunned.”

MARTINEZ SHAKES OFF 5Ks

The day after striking out five times, J.D. Martinez bore a grin that was more sheepish than embarrassed Wednesday afternoon.

“Sorry you had to see that – that was ugly,” he said with a wry chuckle.

Even though he said he felt “great” in the at-bats where he did not strike out (he grounded into a double play, flied out and lined out), he really was as clueless about the cause of those five strikeouts as he was concerned.

“I don’t know what happened, but it happened,” Martinez said after Tuesday night’s 17-inning 4-3 loss. “One of those things where you can laugh about it or you can put your head down about it. I choose to laugh about it and joke about it right now.”

Martinez once hit four homers in a game, but he likely did not expect to repeat it the following day. Same with the five strikeouts.

“You can’t judge players by a day, you know – that’s why there’s 162 of these,” Martinez said. “(Tampa Bay’s) Blake Snell won a Cy Young (last year) and he got, what, one out today (against the Yankees)? Is he a terrible pitcher? All right. It’s one of those things.”

As a team, the Red Sox went 1 for 13 with runners in scoring position Tuesday night, so nobody had a particularly solid night.

But like Martinez’s night, the game was one loss in a long season. And the Red Sox came in riding a six-game winning streak.

“I think we’ve been playing great,” Martinez said. “We didn’t capitalize on a lot of opportunities we had to win, we lost the game which was actually a really good game. It was a very very long game but it was a very good game, I think, as a whole team effort.”

As for the stiff back that has been bothering him off and on since spring training, Martinez said “it’s gotten a lot better, it hasn’t been bothering me as of late.”

EOVALDI CATCHES UP

Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (elbow) played catch again on Wednesday, the third day in a row without any issues. A schedule of bullpen sessions and then a rehab stint will be mapped out soon.

Right-handed reliever Heath Hembree (elbow) played catch and is “still a little bit sore but not as much as he felt a few days ago, he’s progressing,” Cora said. “The off day (Thursday), we’ll take advantage of that one, too. Hopefully it feels better throughout the weekend and then we’ll plan accordingly.”

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