Immaculate effort
Boston Red Sox pitcher Chris Sale (above) joined Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax as the only pitchers on record with three career “immaculate innings” when he struck out the side against Minnesota on nine pitches during a 12-2 victory over the Twins.
RED SOX 12, TWINS 2
BOSTON — Red Sox ace Chris Sale joined Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax as the only pitchers on record with three immaculate innings, Bobby Dalbec homered twice and Boston beat the Minnesota Twins 12-2 on Thursday night.
Dalbec drove in seven runs and Rafael Devers hit his 30th home run, a two-run shot during a fiverun sixth that helped the Red Sox put away the Twins and seal Sale’s third victory in as many starts since his return from Tommy John surgery.
“Today was probably the best my mechanics have been start-to-finish. I really felt like I was staying on top of the baseball. I really kind of found it out in the bullpen before the game,” Sale said.
Sale (3-0) pitched 5 1-3 innings, striking out 8 and allowing 2 runs on 2 hits. Willians Astudillo’s tworun home run in the fifth accounted for the only runs the Twins managed off Sale.
Astudillo ended up pitching, too, moving over from third base to start the bottom of the eighth and giving the Twins’ actual relievers a breather on a hot night with a flight home still to go.
Dalbec’s three-run home run in the second off of John Gant (4-8) gave Sale some early cushion and started an offensive outburst for the struggling Red Sox, who outhit the Twins 9-3 and drew eight walks.
In Sale’s three starts, Boston has outscored its opponents 34-4.
“The biggest thing I’ve got going for me right now is offense,” Sale said. “That gives myself and the pitching staff a little bit more breathing room to be aggressive. I’m definitely appreciative of that.”
The Red Sox hit multiple home runs for the fourth consecutive game, but the highlight of the night was Sale’s nine-pitch third inning. Sale, whose first immaculate inning came against Baltimore on May 8, 2019. He did it again the following month against Kansas City, then joined Koufax in the third inning Thursday when he struck out Nick Gordon, Andrelton Simmons and Rob Refsnyder on three pitches each. Refsnyder was fooled badly by a slider in the dirt on the final pitch of the inning.
Koufax completed his immaculate innings for the Los Angeles Dodgers between 1962-64. Sale was the first Red Sox pitcher to do it at Fenway Park since Pedro Martinez on May 18, 2002 against Seattle. WHITE SOX 10, BLUE JAYS 7 Luis Robert hit a two-run home run, Carlos Rodon won in his return from the injured list and Chicago beat Toronto.
ORIOLES 13, ANGELS 1 A day after ending a 19-game losing streak, major league-worst Baltimore got a grand slam and six RBI from Pedro Severino to rout Shohei Ohtani and Los Angeles.
INDIANS 10, RANGERS 6 Bradley Zimmer hit a two-run home run into the second deck in right field to highlight a four-run first inning, and Cleveland beat Texas.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
DODGERS 4, PADRES 0 Max Scherzer pitched 72/3 dominant innings to win his eighth consecutive decision, Austin Barnes hit a two-run home run off Yu Darvish and surging Los Angeles beat plunging San Diego for a three-game sweep.
GIANTS 3, METS 2 Kris Bryant launched an early two-run home run, pinch-hitter Darin Ruf broke an eighth-inning tie with an RBI single and San Francisco beat New York to complete a threegame sweep.
REDS 5, BREWERS 1 Jonathan India hit a three-run home run, Nick Castellanos also went deep and Cincinnati avoided a three-game sweep by NL Central-leading Milwaukee.
PIRATES 11, CARDINALS 7 Gregory Polanco hit a decisive two-run double during an eight-run seventh inning, and Pittsburgh rallied past St. Louis.
DIAMONDBACKS 8, PHILLIES 7 Carson Kelly hit a two run-home run and drove in three runs, Nick Ahmed added a two-run blast and Zac Gallen pitched five strong innings in his first start in his hometown, leading Arizona to a victory over Philadelphia.
MARLINS 7, NATIONALS 5 Jorge Alfaro homered and singled, rookie Bryan De La Cruz had three hits, and Miami beat Washington.