It was a pitcher’s duel in every sense of the term.
Rick Porcello and José Berríos went blow-for-blow Monday night, but it was Porcello’s seven shutout innings that won out as the Boston Red Sox took a 2-0 win over the Minnesota Twins.
Porcello hushed the potent Minnesota attack, limiting them to four hits while striking out eight as the Sox pushed their winning streak to six games against baseball’s best team.
The right-hander tossed 94 pitches (68 strikes) and was an absolute master of the strike zone, setting up his fastball with a slow, looping curveball that kept Twins hitters guessing all night. While Porcello is far from a fire-baller, his fastball served as a putaway pitch Monday.
Porcello is having a real-estate game: location, location, location. 6 swings/misses on his fastball are tied for 2nd most he's had in a start this year.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) June 18, 2019
“He did a tremendous job mixing up his pitches, using the fastball in certain spots,” manager Alex Cora told reporters after the game, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “That’s the best lineup in baseball. He kept them off balance, weak contact. He was in control.”
Not only was Porcello dominant, but he was also timely, giving one of his best efforts one day after the Sox used seven arms out of the bullpen against the Baltimore Orioles.
“He gave us what we needed. We were very limited today in the bullpen and we needed him to get deep into the game,” Cora added. “And he did more than that. He dominated for seven and gave us a chance to win the game.”
Porcello improves to 5-6 on the season with a 4.31 ERA, and his numbers at Target Field continue to be dizzying.
Rick Porcello improved to 8-3 with a 2.73 ERA (89 innings, 27 earned runs) in 14 starts here at Target Field.
Ryan Brasier with seventh save.— Christopher Smith (@SmittyOnMLB) June 18, 2019
Here are some other notes from Monday’s Red Sox-Twins game:
— The win bumps the Red Sox’s winning streak to six games, the longest of the season thus far.
#RedSox win their 6th in a row, longest win streak of the season, longest since last August 2-8 (also 6 games).
— Red Sox Nation Stats (@RSNStats) June 18, 2019
— Colten Brewer made a bit of an adventure out of the eighth inning after allowing a base hit and a walk to start the frame.
But the righty managed to escape unscathed after a beneficial base-running blunder by the Twins. And while the Boston bullpen has taken its fair share of lumps, Brewer has been putting together a nice stretch of late.
Colten Brewer with his fifth straight scoreless appearance and seventh straight without allowing an earned run.
— Alex Speier (@alexspeier) June 18, 2019
— Xander Bogaerts continues to tear the cover off the ball.
The shortstop was one of just two Red Sox with multiple hits on Monday night, and his second was an awfully important one. Bogaerts laced an RBI double to give the Sox a 2-0 lead in the top of the ninth.
It also was the 300th career extra-base hit for the 26-year-old.
Congratulations to Xander on his 300th career extra-base hit! pic.twitter.com/ncUwWIX9ek
— Red Sox (@RedSox) June 18, 2019
— Michael Chavis has quietly picked things back up.
While still struggling with the strikeout, the 23-year-old has put together a seven-game winning streak. Chavis is batting .345 during the streak and has raised his batting average from .247 to .261 over that stretch.
— One day after playing their longest game of the season (four hours, 44 minutes), the Red Sox and Twins wrapped up their series opener in a crisp two hours and 43 minutes.
