MINNEAPOLIS — Eduardo Escobar hit two go-ahead doubles, a two-run delivery off Chris Sale in the sixth inning and one that sparked a four-run eighth for the Minnesota Twins in a 6-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night.
Robby Scott (0-1), just recalled from Triple-A, relieved Sale to start the eighth and walked the first two batters. Joe Kelly entered, and Escobar’s one-out line drive bounced in front of Jackie Bradley Jr. and skipped past the center fielder as two runs scored. The official scorer later changed his ruling from a single to a double, giving Escobar a majors-leading 32 for the season. Robbie Grossman broke the game open with a two-run triple.
The late surge masked a classic pitching duel between Sale and Jose Berrios, the six-time All-Star against the budding ace. Sale retired the first 14 batters he faced before Ehire Adrianza’s soft roller to Rafael Devers at third base went for an infield single.
The Twins were mostly out of sorts against Sale, with bewildered players complaining to home plate umpire Jeff Nelson about the size of his strike zone. They fell behind on a two-out home run by Devers in the sixth off Berrios.
All it took was a single by Ryan LaMarre and a hit by pitch for Joe Mauer to start a rally in the bottom of the inning. With one out, Escobar drove a 1-1 slider near the dirt from Sale down the left-field line for a 2-1 lead. Escobar pumped his arms back and forth before clapping and pointing at his teammates in the dugout.
Sale finished seven innings, the 12th time in 16 starts this season he has logged at least six. This was the 11th turn in which he’s yielded two runs or fewer and his fifth double-digit strikeout performance. In his last three starts, he has allowed only 11 hits in 21 innings. Yet the Red Sox are only 8-8 with him on the mound.
Berrios had to work harder, but he was largely responsible for the Red Sox finishing 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and stranding 10 men. He left with one out and one on in the seventh, and Trevor Hildenberger struck out American League RBI leader J.D. Martinez with runners at second and third to end that threat.
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