On Jose Berrios' fifth pitch of the game Sunday, he surrendered a solo home run.
Red Sox win Chairman's Cup, beat Twins 8-3
Twins starter Jose Berrios gave up home runs to the first two batters he faced.
March 28, 2021 at 8:03PM
On the sixth, it was a repeat performance.
Enrique Hernandez and Franchy Cordero, Boston's first two batters, connected against the Twins starter as the Red Sox took an early 2-0 lead on their way to an 8-3 victory at JetBlue Park in Fort Myers, Fla.
The Red Sox won the exhibition series 4-2-1 and the Chairman's Cup for this spring.
"That's the kind of situation that's going to happen in games," Berrios said. "I had the chance to see it and get through it. I tried to stay in the game, key in on my plan, and we did that in the second, third and fourth innings. And then, we started the fifth inning. We continued to attack them and throw more pitches, and I felt great about it."
Berrios pitched 4⅓ innings, giving up seven hits and three earned runs, with four strikeouts. He said he threw 65 pitches, close to his goal of 70 for the day. With Kenta Maeda opening the regular season at Milwaukee, Berrios will take the second game of that series Saturday and is in line to be the starting pitcher for the Twins' home opener, April 8 against Seattle.
"He's at the top of his game right now," manager Rocco Baldelli said. "… He is ready to take the mound and go out there and win a ballgame in his first start."
Willians Astudillo doubled in the third before Josh Donaldson grounded out to bring him home for the Twins. Kyle Garlick's sacrifice fly scored Byron Buxton an inning later.
Cesar Puello homered for Boston in the eighth before Spencer Steer homered for the Twins in the ninth.
The Twins travel to Bradenton to face the Pirates at noon Monday before closing out the spring schedule at home against Pittsburgh 11 a.m. Tuesday.
After an incredible 25-year career that saw him become MLB's all-time stolen bases leader and the greatest leadoff hitter ever, Rickey Henderson died Friday at age 65.
