It might not equal the excitement of winning a World Series championship but, thanks in part to Red Sox veterans Manny Ramirez, David Ortiz, and Jason Varitek, Boston won its second consecutive Mayor’s Cup over Minnesota, beating the Twins 12-7 Wednesday afternoon to take the Grapefruit League “series” three games to two. Boston had won the first two contests against Minnesota this spring but the Twins came back with consecutive wins against the Sox to force a deciding Game Five at Hammond Stadium. Clay Buchholz, looking to secure a spot in the starting rotation with Boston, earned the decision with 3-2/3 innings of work, beating Francisco Liriano and earning his first decision of the spring. Meanwhile, Varitek hit his second home run in exhibition play while Ramirez went 2-for-2 and Ortiz went 2-for-3, each with an RBI. As both teams spring training facilities are located in Fort Myers, FL — the Red Sox reside at City of Palms Park — the two teams often play each other at least five times in Grapefruit League action. Thus, the Mayor’s Cup is awarded annually to the team that wins the most games against its cross-town rival. Last season, Boston took its first cup home since 2004, also winning three out of five contests between the two clubs.

The Sox will have six more games in the next seven days before leaving Fort Myers to fly to Japan; there, they will play two exhibition contests against Japanese clubs before opening the regular season a week early with a two-game series against the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome beginning 25 March. Boston then returns to the states to play its final three games of the spring against the Los Angeles Dodgers, with the second match scheduled to be played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The regular season then resumes for the Red Sox on 01 April with two against the Athletics in Oakland at McAfee Coliseum.