Red Sox remained awake Sunday in Minnesota

[Red Sox 17, Twins 6]
[Joy of Sox]

It was Chris Sale day for the Rex Sox, and after an 11-run game Saturday; the bats were the ones that bailed them out in Minnesota to take a series.

Sale struck out 10 over six innings; but actually allowed four earned runs. The Red Sox got home runs from Dustin Pedroia, Sandy Leon (two), Andrew Benintendi, and Mookie Betts hit his third of the season.

Although he was due for a slip, the Red Sox onslaught started against Ervin Santana; who has been electrifying. From Joy of Sox’s post:

In his first six starts of 2017, Erwin Santana allowed 1, 0, 0, 1, 1, and 0 runs. After Santana had thrown only 13 pitches on Sunday afternoon, he had already allowed three runs to the Red Sox, thanks to a solo home run by Dustin Pedroia and a two-run dong from Andrew Benintendi.

This game was not the pitchers duel one might have expected from the two starters’ stats. Santana (6-5-6-3-4, 93) ended up allowing four home runs for the first time since May 2013.

It was a big series win for the Red Sox on the road, getting their record to 17-14 on the season. The Red Sox scored 28 runs in two days. The Sox were thought to be a rather light-hitting squad before yesterday and today happened; have suddenly shown what they can do when everything clicks.

With Betts now in the lead-off spot, things seem to be clicking like a fine tuned motor. This is a team that should be fun to watch when they get David Price back later in the month. They may also feel like they need to add a hitter that would only further their firepower. The Red Sox are going to hang around and be relevant.