BOSTON -- The Twins’ postseason chances became more tenuous on Sunday, as they were swept in their doubleheader at Fenway Park, dropping the nightcap 9-3 after an 8-1 loss in Game 1.

The Twins started the day with a half-game lead for the third American League Wild Card spot, but ended it looking up at the Tigers and Royals, though the Twins hold the tiebreaker over both, as well as the Mariners, who sit a game behind Minnesota.

The Twins, struggling on both sides of the ball, have lost four of their last five games and seven of their last 10. The pitching allowed eight or more runs in back-to-back games after holding opponents to four or fewer runs in five of their previous six games.

The offense, meanwhile, which scored four runs across the doubleheader, did not have an extra-base hit either game. The Twins’ last home run was hit by Willi Castro in the eighth inning of Minnesota’s win on Sept. 17, a span of 51 homerless innings.

“You get two shots today to win a couple of ballgames,” said manager Rocco Baldelli. “So, yes, to come out of it with no wins, yeah, we can talk about the game and how it went and all those things, [but] really, ultimately, the only thing that matters here is that we didn’t come out of it with the wins that we wanted today.”

With an off-day Monday, his team knows what’s at stake.

“We have to win on Tuesday,” Baldelli said. “They want what’s in front of them. They want the outcome of winning enough games to give ourselves a chance to go to the playoffs. That’s what we’re here for.”

Right-hander Zebby Matthews was solid in his 4 2/3 innings of work, giving up one run on two hits with six strikeouts, but with two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Matthews gave up a two-out double to No. 9 hitter Ceddanne Rafaela.

Baldelli pulled Matthews rather than have him face the lineup for a third time. Cole Irvin, picked up on waivers on Monday from Baltimore, allowed a four-pitch walk to Jarren Duran before surrendering a three-run homer to Romy Gonzalez.

“I didn’t locate that pitch [to Gonzalez], not at all,” Irvin said. “Gosh, we’re in that game. I just have to execute my pitches. The hardest thing about this is we had an opportunity to win the ballgame. And Zebby did really well for us. I’m kind of [mad] that it went the way it did. Bad time for probably my worst outing of the year. Wasn’t that I felt off, I just didn’t execute pitches, didn’t throw strikes, and those things add up to those types of innings.”

Boston broke the game wide open the next inning, sending 10 batters to the plate with six scoring against a trio of Twins relievers -- Irvin, Cole Sands and Michael Tonkin -- who combined to give up five hits with two hit batters and a sacrifice fly. Irvin was charged with four runs in two-thirds of an inning.

“We have to throw strikes, and really if we’re not in the zone the way that we want to be, free baserunners, they’re going to come around, they’re going to score,” Baldelli said. “We have to do a better job of that today than what we did. But it happened pretty quickly the way that played out.”

The Twins added a run in the eighth, finally chasing Sox starter Kutter Crawford, who allowed three runs over 7 2/3 innings. Willi Castro then worked an 11-pitch walk against Josh Winckowski before Carlos Santana flied out to end the inning.

After the off-day, the Twins return home for three games against the Marlins and three against the Orioles to wrap up the regular season. Whether they will play beyond that remains to be determined.

“We fight. We fight,” said Santana. “We have to keep fighting the [best] we can. Six more games left and we have to finish strong. I believe in my team to finish strong.”