Adrian Gonzalez homered as Boston avoided getting swept.
Adrian Gonzalez hit his fifth homer in 20 games for the Red Sox Sunday, and his 11th of the season,.BOSTON - If results matter, Franklin Morales deserves a place in the Red Sox starting rotation.
His experience in the bullpen makes it tempting to keep him there, but almost every time the left-hander gets a chance to start, he makes the most of it.
Boston's 6-4 win over Minnesota Sunday was just the latest example. On a sweltering day at Fenway Park, Morales allowed one run on three hits in six innings.
Only an atrocious ninth-inning cameo appearance by Vicente Padilla made this one close. Padilla faced three batters and all three scored, two on Ryan Doumit's monster home run.
Shrugging off his own game-losing performance of Saturday night, Alfredo Aceves came to the rescue and earned his 23rd save.
As for Morales, his performance begged a question his manager was not ready to answer: What's next?
"We'll get him some rest (Monday and Tuesday). That's my immediate plan,'' Bobby Valentine said.
And then? Is Morales a starter, a reliever or both?
"I like him as a starter. He wants to start, and I want him to start - we know that,'' Valentine said.
"Right now, we don't have to determine anything. We've got a tough Texas team coming in, our bullpen is a little wobbly and we're a guy short down there - all that good stuff.''
Translation: Don't be surprised if Morales is used out of the pen, but not until Wednesday. He may start again soon, and he may not.
With Josh Beckett's scheduled return Wednesday, the Red Sox have six starters if Morales is counted.
Valentine does not want a permanent six-man rotation. Morales is the only pitcher in the group who has also pitched in relief, and he has done it well.
"We can't always count on another guy getting injured and missing a start, and plugging Franklin in. But he's been lights out,'' Valentine said.
Morales is staying out of the debate.
"That's not my decision. I have to be here for the team for every situation,'' the pitcher said.
"This was still a four-game series to forget, but at least Red Sox avoided getting swept.
Pitching for a team that desperately needed some good news, Morales fired 106 pitches. Now comes a decision.
Beckett suffered back spasms last week, and Morales took his scheduled turn Sunday.
Beckett is ready to return. He joins Jon Lester and Clay Buchholz as locks in the rotation if they're healthy.
Felix Doubront and Aaron Cook have been up and down. Cook pitches Monday.
Doubront's turn was to come up Wednesday, but he's being bumped by Beckett. That does not mean Doubront is out of the rotation.
Valentine praised him to the skies Saturday. He wants to build on the rookie's progress, not pull the plug on it.
That leaves Morales, whose start on Sunday was his sixth of the season but first since July 13.
He is 3-1 with a 2.70 ERA in those starts. Five were excellent, with only a rough outing against the Yankees as the exception.
"He had six great innings (Sunday). He threw his changeups for strikes, his curve was just missing but still effective, and his fastball was there for all six,'' Valentine said.
As hard as Morales is making it for the Red Sox to keep him out of the rotation, the left-hander said he'll be ready for whatever comes his way.
"I don't think much about it. I think inning by inning, hitter by hitter and try to take the batters out,'' he said.
"I go day by day, work out every day and try to be ready for my opportunities. I felt pretty good today, and I know the team needed to win.''