BOSTON _ There was nothing the Twins could do about ending any of Chris Sale's many impressive streaks. So they settled for foiling Craig Kimbrel's _ but it only made the end of their own streak more painful.
Mookie Betts blasted an 89-mph fastball off Matt Belisle atop the left-field wall, abruptly ending a game that was dominated by pitching, but only until the bullpens were summoned. Betts' shot handed the Twins their 10th walk-off loss of the season, 4-3, and ended Minnesota's four-game winning streak.
Eddie Rosario cracked a two-out, ninth-inning double off the Green Monster in deep center field, scoring two runs and marking the first time since May 9 _ or 24 straight saves ago _ that Kimbrel had failed to protect a Boston lead. But before the Twins could celebrate the possibility of winning a game started by Sale, their own closer allowed a lead of his own to vanish.
Rafael Devers lined a 2-1 fastball from Fernando Rodney into the Red Sox bullpen to lead off the bottom of the ninth. Then Betts did the same against Belisle in the 10th, dropping the Twins eight games behind Cleveland in the AL Central.
Robbie Grossman drew a one-out walk against Kimbrel, but when Jake Cave lined out, it appeared Kimbrel's 33rd save of the season, in 35 opportunities, was safe. But Jorge Polanco drew a walk, setting up Rosario's heroics. The Twins outfielder timed a 97-mph fastball perfectly and ricocheted it off the wall about halfway up in center field.
But it took only four pitches for Devers to deliver the game-tying run, launching a screamer just over the bullpen wall in right, and just beyond Max Kepler's glove. It was Rodney's sixth blown save of the season in 28 opportunities, and came one night after he loaded the bases before preserving.
The first six innings of the game were dominated by Sale and to a lesser extent, Lance Lynn.
The Red Sox ace left-hander didn't allow a run, and surrendered only three harmless singles, over six innings on Friday. Sale's six shutout innings mean he hasn't allowed a run in his last 23 _ and just one in his last 39 innings, a remarkable 0.23 ERA of six starts. He struck out 10 Twins, the ninth straight game he's whiffed at least nine, and became the first big-league pitcher to surpass 200 strikeouts this season, with 207. He didn't allow a home run for the ninth straight start, a stretch of 63 straight innings.
That last one is the critical one, because Lynn was nearly as solid as the three-time American League All-Star starter _ but for one pitch. With ex-Twin Eduardo Nunez on second base after a fifth-inning double, Lynn left a fastball too high to Jackie Bradley, Jr., and it wound up atop the Green Monster.
Lynn, himself the object of trade rumors as he pitched shortly after the Twins dealt Eduardo Escobar, gave up only two singles in the four innings previous to Bradley's blast. Considering that he was facing the major leagues' highest scoring team, Lynn turned in one of his strongest starts of the season _ seven hits, three strikeouts and only one walk over six innings _ giving the scouts in the Fenway Park stands plenty to consider as the clock ticks toward the July 31 trade deadline.
