A one hour and 35 minute rain delay couldn’t stop the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
In his first appearance since starting the 2018 Major League Baseball All-Star Game, Chris Sale looked near perfect on the mound, giving up two hits, with no walks and nine strikeouts over six scoreless innings in Boston’s 9-1 win over the Detroit Tigers on Sunday afternoon.
Jackie Bradley Jr. broke the game open in the fourth with his three-run home run and the offense tacked on three more runs in the seventh to help secure the victory.
With the win, the Red Sox improve to 70-31, while the Tigers slip to 42-59.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Impressive.
Aside from Sale’s outing, the Red Sox put up nine runs on the Tigers after scoring just one in their last two games.
ON THE BUMP
— Sale didn’t allow a baserunner until the third inning, pitching 1-2-3 frames in the first, second and sixth. The only time the southpaw allowed a runner past first base was in the fourth when Nicholas Castellanos doubled to center field. His outing concluded in the sixth, with the southpaw punching out two batters in his final frame.
— Brandon Workman gave up a solo home run to Jeimer Candelario in the seventh with one out before getting out of the inning.
— Joe Kelly loaded the bases with two outs in the eighth, but was able to escape the inning without the Tigers doing any damage.
— Tyler Thornburg closed out the game with a 1-2-3, seven-pitch ninth, posting one strikeout.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Red Sox put two on the board in the second inning on ground outs from Rafael Devers and Eduardo Nunez to take an early 2-0 lead.
— Boston had a big fourth inning after it loaded the bases with a Steve Pearce single, Xander Bogaerts double and Devers fielder’s choice, which chased Tigers starter Blaine Hardy from the game. Nunez drove in the team’s third run, but Devers was tagged out after getting stuck between second and third base.
So with runners on the corners, Jackie Bradley Jr. blasted his seventh home run of the season the opposite way for a 6-0 advantage.
— After Sandy Leon drew a walk and Mookie Betts singled, Andrew Benintendi tripled to bring in two more runs in the seventh. He’d later score on a J.D. Martinez sacrifice fly to make it 9-0.
— Pearce, Bogaerts and Bradley led the way for the Sox with two hits, while Betts, Benintendi and Nunez each had one.
— Martinez, Leon and Tzu-Wei Lin, who had one at-bat after entering as a defensive replacement, went hitless.
TWEET OF THE GAME
Wow.
UP NEXT
Boston will travel to Baltimore to take on the Orioles in a three-game set beginning Monday. Rick Porcello will be on the mound for the Red Sox while Kevin Gausman is set to get the ball for the O’s. First pitch from Camden Yards is set for 7:05 p.m. ET.
