Chris Sale’s Pitching and Bobby Dalbec’s Power Helps Red Sox Beat the Twins 12-2

What a way to end a series!

After a tough loss last night, the Red Sox closed out another series against the Twins with a 12-2 win on Thursday night. This makes two consecutive series wins in a row, before a long seven games in seven days stretch.

Red Sox ace Chris Sale joined Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax as the only pitchers on record with three immaculate innings. Sale pitched 5 1/3 innings, striking out eight and allowing two runs on a two-run homer by Willians Astudillo in the fifth inning. The win sealed Sale’s third victory since he returned from Tommy John surgery, making him 3-0 on the season.

“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.

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.”

Bobby Dalbec was on fire tonight as well, hitting two homers. Dalbec’s first homer reached the second row of seats atop the Green Monster in left field and put Boston up 3-0. His second came on a line drive in the seventh that just cleared the yellow line on top of the 37-foot wall and pushed the lead to 12-2.

Boston will now begin their seven games in seven days on the road, starting with a three-game series at Cleveland.

Photo: (Michael Dwyer – AP Photo)