Sale dazzles once again in rout
Dalbec records career-high 7 RBI
As he made one impressive rehab start after another in July and early August, the excitement and buzz continued to build around Chris Sale. But there remained a great unknown on how it would translate to the big leagues after two years away.
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So far, he’s been as good as hoped for.
There certainly remains another level for Sale to reach — and against better competition — but the Red Sox can’t ask for more in their ace opening act from Tommy John surgery. On Thursday night, he looked vintage at times. Sale tossed an immaculate third inning, the third of his career, and struck out eight over 5 1/3 innings to lead the Red Sox to their third win in his three starts since his return, as they cruised to a 12-2 victory over the Twins at Fenway Park.
Bobby Dalbec drove in a career-high seven runs as he hit two home runs, and Rafael Devers blasted his 30th home run of the season as the Red Sox (73-56) took two out of three from the Twins before heading to Cleveland this weekend to start a seven-game road trip.
Sale overpowered the Twins lineup and was dominant for most of his outing. A one-out walk in the first inning was the only baserunner he allowed through his first four innings as he struck out eight of the first 13 batters he faced.
In the third inning, he looked like he had never even left.
Nine pitches, three strikeouts. He punched out Nick Gordon swinging on a 92.5 mph fastball, sent Andrelton Simmons back to the dugout after he swung and missed at a 94.7 mph offering and fooled Rob Refsnyder on a slider to complete the immaculate inning, his first since he threw two in a onemonth span in 2019. He joined Sandy Koufax in exclusive company as the only two pitchers in history to throw three immaculate innings.
Sale continued to deal in the fourth as he cut down the heart of the Twins lineup, and he finally conceded his first hit of the night in the fifth. After Christian Arroyo made an impressive sliding play to keep the Twins hitless, Ryan Jeffers reached on a soft grounder down the third-base line that had no chance of a play. The next batter, Willians Astudillo, crushed a slider to the Plymouth Rock sign above the Monster, which cut the Red Sox’ lead to 4-2.
But that was ultimately the only blemish on Sale’s night. He pitched into the sixth for the first time since Aug. 13, 2019, and recorded an out before walking Brent Rooker and hitting Josh Donaldson with a pitch. That ended his night as he walked off to another standing ovation.
Sale, who has a 2.35 ERA in three starts against the lastplace Orioles, Rangers and Twins, will face a much tougher assignment in his next start on Tuesday against first-place Tampa Bay, which will be his first start away from Fenway Park since returning.
There wasn’t much doubt about Thursday’s outcome. The Red Sox led 5-2 going into the sixth and broke the game open with a five-run inning. Dalbec, who gave the Sox an early lead with his three-run homer, added on with a two-run single before Devers smacked a two-run shot to the bullpen. In the seventh, Dalbec put a stamp on the win with a two-run homer to left, and earned a curtain call with it, as he became the sixth player in major league history to record seven RBI in a game as the No. 9 hitter, and first since Jackie Bradley Jr. did it in 2015.