Mookie Betts didn’t have a hit for the entire game … until the 10th inning.
The Boston Red Sox right fielder was 0-for-3 entering extra frames, but he drilled his 25th home run into the Green Monster to send the home crowd into delirium and deliver a walk-off 4-3 win against the Minnesota Twins on Friday night at Fenway Park.
Chris Sale was brilliant, tossing six innings of scoreless ball while giving up just three hits, two walks and striking out 10. However, he wasn’t awarded his 12th season win after Craig Kimbrel blew the save in the ninth.
It looked as if the Twins were going to take two straight from Boston, but a ninth-inning home run from Rafael Devers, followed by the Betts’ round-tripper the following inning completed the comeback.
With the win, the Red Sox climb to 72-33, while the Twins slip to 48-52.
Here’s how it all went down:
GAME IN A WORD
Mookie.
The right fielder picked a great time to collect his first hit of the night in the 10th inning — a walk-off home run.
ON THE BUMP
— Sale was stellar on the mound, collecting five strikeouts through the first three innings. He did run into some trouble in the fourth, however, after he loaded the bases with two outs after giving up two walks and hitting a batter. But after a lengthy at-bat, the hard-throwing righty got Jake Cave to strike out swinging to end the inning.
He’d leave that one long inning behind quickly, pitching a 1-2-3 fifth and sixth before his night would conclude, getting strikeouts nine and 10 to end his outing.
— Ryan Brasier came in for the seventh and gave up a leadoff double to Max Kepler who would move to third on a groundout from the following batter. An error by Boston allowed a run to score before Eddie Rosario grounded into an inning-ending double play, thanks to some strong defense by Steve Pearce.
— Matt Barnes got two outs in the eighth inning before Sox manager Alex Cora went to his closer for the four-out save.
— Kimbrel got the third out of the eighth before coming back out for the final inning.
The righty put runners on first and second by way of the walk, and it would prove to be costly as Rosario laced a two-out, two-run double to give Minnesota a 3-2 lead.
— Tyler Thornburg pitched a 1-2-3 10th with a strikeout.
IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— The Boston bats were quiet for most of the game until the fifth inning.
Eduardo Nunez led the frame off with a double and moved to third on a Sandy Leon lineout, bringing Jackie Bradley Jr. to the dish. The center fielder sent a 2-1 pitch deep into the Green Monster seats to give Boston a 2-0 lead.
— Down 3-2 in the ninth, Devers made his first hit of the game count as he sent a line-drive home run into the Red Sox bullpen to tie the game at three and send the game into extra innings.
— Betts, like Devers, collected his first hit late in the game … and won the game in the process.
— Bradley and Nunez led the way for Boston with two hits apiece, while Devers, Martinez, Pearce and Betts each had one.
— All other Red Sox batters went hitless.
TWEET OF THE GAME
And we can’t wait.
UP NEXT
The two sides will play their third game of the four-game contest Saturday night. Rick Porcello will get the ball for Boston and be opposed by Jake Odorizzi. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 7:10 p.m. ET.
