Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell acknowledges a standing ovation after leaving the game in the sixth inning yesterday.

The Providence Journal / Bob Breidenbach

BOSTON — In what was the most meaningless Red Sox game since they left Fort Myers at the end of March, the Sox fell to the Minnesota Twins, 3-2, in the season finale.

Minnesota scored three times off substitute starter Julian Tavarez in the first inning, then were limited to one hit the rest of the way by five different Red Sox relievers.

In fact, Boston pitching retired 23 Twins in a row before Jason Kubel doubled off reliever Jonathan Papelbon with one out in the ninth.

“The way we drew it up — not the first inning, but after that — everybody came in and had clean innings,” said manager Terry Francona. “They threw strikes, didn’t get stretched out too much. It didn’t work out very well.”

Jon Lester, who made his final start of the season Wednesday, got two innings of relief work and retired all six hitters he faced.

“I don’t want you to read too much into it,” said Francona. “It seemed like a good time to give him a couple of innings.”

The Sox scored one run in the fifth on Manny Ramirez’s RBI single and another on Jason Varitek’s solo homer in the sixth. The homer was Varitek’s fourth in the last eight games.

Francona substituted for Dustin Pedroia and Mike Lowell mid-inning so that fans could express their appreciation.

Pedroia left for Alex Cora in the sixth, and Lowell was replaced by Royce Clayton.

“I just wish we had enough extra guys where you could kind of deal with everybody that’s been out there all year,” said the manager, “just to be able to give the fans a chance to show the players appreciation. You’re playing a game and you don’t want to short anybody, but it just felt right.

“You don’t want to slow the game down, and we’re not trying to embarrass the other team or anything like that — we’re just trying to show our players appreciation.”

The perfect season

Kevin Youkilis established an American League record for first basemen, going 1,079 chances over the course of the season without making an error. Youkilis finished with a 1.000 fielding percentage.

The previous mark was held by Stuffy McInnis, who had a .999 mark in 1921.

The major-league mark at the position is held by Steve Garvey, who handled 1,319 chances in 1984 for San Diego.

Youkilis has not made an error at first since July 4, 2006, at Tampa Bay, covering 1,586 chances.

Around the horn

Pedroia’s 39 doubles are the third -most ever by a rookie second basemen, topped only by Carl Lind (1928 Indians) and Billy Herman (1932 Cubs), both of whom had 42. Among Red Sox rookies, only Fred Lynn (47 in 1975), Nomar Garciaparra (44 in 1997) and Ted Williams (44 in 1939) totaled more. … Mike Timlin’s relief appearance was his 1,011th, moving him past Roberto Hernandez for 10th place all-time. … The Sox finished with 96 stolen bases, their most since swiping 99 in 1995. Their 80-percent success rate (96 steals in 120 attemtps attempts) was their best since 1920. … Julio Lugo finished with 33 steals, the most for a Sox player since Otis Nixon stole 42 in 1994. ... The Sox finished with 96 wins, their highest victory total since 2004, when they won 98. The 10-game improvement over last year, when they won 86, is the Sox’ best one-year improvement since 1998, when they won 92 after winning only 78 the year before.

No room at the inn

Not every Red Sox player and coach will be involved in the postseason. Pitcher Devern Hansack, outfielder Brandon Moss and PawSox manager Ron Johnson, who has served as a bench coach for Boston this month, are heading home. Hansack and Moss were told the news after yesterday’s game. Meanwhile, pitcher Bryan Corey, who is on the bubble to make the playoff roster, had not been told what the plan is for him.

They did their homework

The 2007 regular season was barely over when a Red Sox employee began handing out scouting reports on the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim to the Boston players. Francona said Saturday that the club will hold an advance meeting tonight to prepare for the ALDS.

“It’s a big day for us,” said Francona in regard to today’s meeting. “[The club’s scouting department] has been grinding it out for a while now. There have been guys out all over the place. There are a lot of hours that go into this.

“Again, it doesn’t mean you’re going to win; doesn’t mean you’re going to lose. But it gives you a comfort level going in that you’ve covered everything. As a staff, we need to be prepared. And we will.”

The Sox will hold an optional workout today before practicing in earnest tomorrow in preparation for the five-game series.

Why wait?

In case you missed it, the Red Sox have clinched home-field advantage throughout the postseason and have selected to begin the ALDS against the Angels on Wednesday at Fenway Park. The team with the best record had the choice to start either on Wednesday or Thursday.

Francona, who had been coy about the team’s plans prior to the clincher, said yesterday that he really didn’t lose too much sleep over the decision.

“I talked to Theo about it a few times," he said prior to yesterday’s game. "It wasn’t something to me that probably was going to make a difference. We had a choice and took the first game [Wednesday]. It’s going to be the same for both teams, regardless of when you play. … It doesn’t matter when you play, I’m concerned with how we play.”

smcadam@projo.com