Chris Sale and Bobby Dalbec Push The Win

Chris Sale and Bobby Dalbec had quite the night this Thursday during their series finale against the Twins at Fenway Park.

In the top of the third Sale had three strikeouts on nine pitches, giving him his third career immaculate inning - joining Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax as the only pitchers on record with three immaculate innings under their belts. The last pitcher to perform the feat for the Red Sox was Chris Sale in June of 2019 against the Royals, and the one before that was again Sale in May of the same year against the Orioles.

Sale’s pitched five innings during each start so far this season and his impressive pitching has given him a win for each of those starts (3-0). In Thursday’s game Sale threw for 5 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on two hits and striking out eight. The Twins’ two-run homer by Willians Astudillo in the fifth was the only scoring play off Sale.

Chris Sale: Image Source

Bobby Dalbec also had a great game - highlighted by his multi-homer performance at the plate. Dalbec hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the second, putting the Red Sox at 3-0 and giving Sale some breathing room while igniting an offensive explosion from the Red Sox.

Dalbec’s second homer came during the bottom of the seventh: a line drive just clearing the top of the wall to bring in another two runs for the Red Sox, pushing their lead to 12-2 over the Twins. Dalbec overall went 3-for-4 with seven RBI’s and three runs, earning him a curtain call from Fenway. His impressive night is part of a great stretch from the first baseman - in his last seven games Dalbec’s batted a 0.313 with a 0.750 slugging percentage, not crediting any particular adjustment he’s made, simply saying he’s “[treating] every pitch like it’s the best one [he’s] going to get [during that] at bat”.

Bobby Dalbec: Image Source