Sunday afternoon, the Red Sox avoided disaster by a nose.

Facing Carlos Correa to lead off the top of the fourth, Garrett Crochet was nearly hit flush in the face by an 86.7 mph line drive. Fortunately the Red Sox ace was able to turn just enough so that the ball only clipped his nose as it whizzed by his head.

Then, after composing himself following a quick check by the trainer, Crochet proceeded to step back on the mound, strike out Jonah Bride and finish the remainder of his outing.

Unfortunately, the bullpen once again dropped the baton.

Crochet delivered the gutsiest performance of his Red Sox career, holding the Twins to one run over five innings, but the bullpen gave up the lead in Sunday’s 5-4 loss. Ryan Jeffers tied the game with a two-run single off Garrett Whitlock in the seventh, and Harrison Bader put the Twins ahead for good with an RBI double in the top of the eighth.

All four of Minnesota’s runs from the seventh inning onwards came with two outs, and with the loss Boston now finds itself at 18-18 after losing two of three from a team that came into Sunday six games under .500.

Things didn’t get off to a good start for Crochet, who allowed a solo home run to Twins outfielder Byron Buxton on the very first pitch of the game. The weather didn’t cooperate either, as passing showers occasionally damped the field and sent fans racing for cover, but the Red Sox were able to hang tough and battle back into the game.

Boston took the lead in the bottom of the second after Wilyer Abreu and Romy Gonzalez reached on a pair of leadoff singles and Carlos Narvaez drove in both with a go-ahead two-run single. The Red Sox stranded a pair in scoring position later in the inning, but were able to extend their lead again in the third on a sacrifice fly by Gonzalez to make it 3-1.

Meanwhile, the Twins didn’t get any runners into scoring position against Crochet after the Buxton home run until the fifth, when the Red Sox lefty walked the first two men before finishing his outing with a lineout, a flyout and a groundout.

Though he didn’t have his best stuff and exhibited reduced velocity, Crochet still struck out six, drew 14 whiffs and limited Minnesota to four hits and two walks.

Minnesota eventually got to the Red Sox bullpen. After starting with a scoreless sixth, Whitlock allowed a leadoff walk to Bader and later a single to Christian Vazquez, setting the table for Jeffers’ game-tying single.

Then in the eighth Slaten gave up a leadoff single to Correa before later serving up the go-ahead double to Bader. Slaten had the Twins outfielder down 1-2 in the count but couldn’t finish the at bat, and then he allowed an RBI single to Trevor Larnach for good measure to make it 5-3.

That extra run proved costly. Wilyer Abreu (3 for 4) hit a towering solo home run in the bottom of the eighth to cut the deficit to one, but the Red Sox couldn’t complete the comeback in the ninth against Twins flamethrower Jhoan Duran. Ceddanne Rafaela was able to give the club life after beating out an infield grounder at first with two outs, but Jarren Duran couldn’t capitalize, striking out on an 88 mph curveball to end the game.