BOSTON _ They only scored one run, they didn't have an at-bat with a runner in scoring position until the seventh inning, and they squandered another terrific start by rookie right-hander Jose Berrios. Yet it's hard not to feel like there was some great news for the Twins in Monday's 3-1 loss to the Red Sox: They won't face Chris Sale again this season.
"It's tough when you have to face a guy like Chris," Twins manager Paul Molitor said, but thanks to his new employer's address in the AL East, at least that can happen only twice a year. Sale limited the Twins to three harmless singles and Chris Gimenez's titanic home run over 6 1/3 innings, struck out nine of the 24 hitters he faced, and won for the ninth time in his last 10 decisions.
It might not have been enough except for an odd, one-inning Welcome-to-Fenway adjustment period for Berrios. The 23-year-old put five of the first six hitters he faced on base, including a solo home run by Mitch Moreland into the distant center field bleachers. Once that was out of his system, though, Berrios transformed back into the shutdown artist he's been all season.
The rookie allowed only one baserunner in the next four innings, worked out of a two-on-one-out situation in the sixth, and finally succumbed to fatigue, and a solid Red Sox lineup, in the seventh, when his pitch count passed 100. Boston tacked two more runs onto his ledger with Barrios watching from the dugout, and the rookie lost for only the second time all year, and first time since May 30.
The victory was the 10th in Sale's career against Minnesota, and third in his past four meetings. While the Twins somehow managed to beat the lanky left-hander five times in 2015, he's been a Cy Young-worthy pitcher since being traded to Boston last winter. Sale leads the major leagues in strikeouts with 155, and his ERA melted a little more Monday, to 2.77.
Sale's bullpen isn't bad, either. He departed with one out in the seventh inning, and Heath Hembree quickly ended the inning by inducing Giminez to hit into a double play. Matt Barnes then struck out the side in the eighth inning, and closer Craig Kimbrel recorded his AL-leading 21st save with a quick ninth.
Twins starter Jose Berrios prepared a fresh baseball as the Red Sox's Mitch Moreland rounded the bases on a solo home run during the first inning at Fenway Park ion Monday.
Gimenez provided the only offense for the Twins, cracking a 1-1 slider completely over the Green Monster in left field and onto Landsdowne Street beyond, his fifth homer of the season.
