Fort Myers – Twins righthander Kyle Gibson stayed out of hitters counts, induced plenty of ground balls and did what he needed to do against a Red Sox split squad lineup.
Twins crush Red Sox 13-0 as Kyle Gibson throws five scoreless innings
Pitcher Kyle Gibson made it look easy for five innings during the Twins 13-0 basting of Boston for their eighth consecutive victory.
March 12, 2017 at 12:49AM
Gibson made it look easy for five innings during the Twins 13-0 basting of Boston for their eighth consecutive victory. Gibson gave up four hits and walked one while striking out four and lowering his ERA to 2.19 this spring. He gave up just one fly ball out - on his changeup. And he retired eight of the last nine batters he faced after giving up a double to Marco Hernandez in the third inning.
Only two of the 19 batters he faced got past first base.
"It's a good feeling to having things moving the way you want them to move, and having things feeling like it's coming out the way you want it to come out," Gibson said. "I know it's still early. Four more starts and 32 more during the (regular) season."
The Twins scored four runs in the first inning off Red Sox lefthander Henry Owens and never looked back. Miguel Sano tripled to the right-center wall, scoring two runs. ByungHo Park doubled to drive in Sano, and Jorge Polanco doubled to drive in Park.
The Twins added two in third, and the rout was on against a Red Sox team full of backup players as many of the regulars played in a game at JetBlue Park.
The last time the Twins won eight straight games was at the end of last year's camp - and we all know how the regular season turned out.
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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.
