Minnesota Twins vs Boston Red Sox Box Score on Jun 26, 2017

The Sports Xchange
Jun 26, 2017

BOSTON -- Chris Sale earned his 10th win, and Mitch Moreland delivered a solo homer and sacrifice fly to lead the Boston Red Sox to a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins in the first of four games between the contenders Monday night.

The surprising Twins, who had their three-game winning streak stopped, came into the game a half-game ahead of the Cleveland Indians in the American League Central, while the Red Sox were a percentage point behind the New York Yankees in the AL East.

Sale (10-3) worked 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball to go to 9-1 since April 27. He walked two and struck out nine, yielding four hits and leaving with runners on first and second and one out with Boston ahead 2-1 in the seventh. Heath Hembree came on and got Chris Gimenez to bounce into a double play.

Matt Barnes, who has been struggling, struck out the side on 11 pitches in the eighth, and Craig Kimbrel pitched a perfect ninth for his 21st save.

The Red Sox won for the second time in five games, and the Twins lost for the second time in their past six.

Moreland hit a solo homer off Jose Berrios (7-2) in a two-run first, and he followed Dustin Pedroia's RBI single with a sacrifice fly in a two-run seventh. He has knocked in 15 runs during a 16-game home on-base streak.

He belted his second homer off Berrios since May 24.

Berrios had won seven of his first eight starts and had yielded two runs in each of his four June starts -- all wins. He was charged with four runs in 6 1/3 innings Monday, and he struck out seven.

Gimenez homered for the Minnesota run, making it a 2-1 game in the third inning. It was his fifth homer of the season, his second in his past two games.

Berrios needed a run-scoring double play grounder and the first of three nifty catches by left fielder Eddie Rosario to escape the first inning with just two runs allowed.

NOTES: Red Sox DH Hanley Ramirez was out of the lineup with a bruised left knee sustained when he was hit by a pitch Sunday. ... Twins 1B Joe Mauer got the night off as a starter, coming on late because manager Paul Molitor rested him with the Red Sox throwing three straight lefties. ... 3B Tzu-Wei Lin got his first major league start for Boston and singled his first time up. ... LHP Hector Santiago comes off the disabled list to start for the Twins against Boston LHP Drew Pomeranz on Tuesday. ... Red Sox INF Jhonny Peralta reported to Triple-A Pawtucket and will start Tuesday, as will a rehabbing Pablo Sandoval, the pair alternating third base and DH roles game by game. ... Boston LHP Eduardo Rodriguez, on the disabled list with a right knee problem, went through fielding drills pregame as he closes in on a Thursday rehab start. ... Red Sox LHP Henry Owens, once a top prospect, was demoted from Triple-A to Double-A.