FORT MYERS, Fla. -- Red Sox ace Chris Sale and Twins right-hander Kyle Gibson were sharp, as neither allowed a run, while Christian Vazquez connected on a three-run homer in the seventh to lead Boston to a 7-2 win on Sunday at Hammond Stadium.
Vazquez smacked a three-run shot to left off reliever Thomas Pressly, who walked the first two batters of the inning. It was Vazquez's first homer of the spring and came on a first-pitch slider. Andrew Benintendi added a solo homer in the eighth before Steve Selsky crushed a three-run shot. Both came off lefty Player Page for Buddy Boshers.
Sale went five innings, scattering six hits and a walk with six strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.57 this spring. Gibson continued his strong spring, tossing six scoreless frames, allowing four hits with four strikeouts. He has a 1.59 ERA in Grapefruit League play.
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"And I feel like I could have gone out there for another one, too," said Sale, who threw 91 pitches. "[I] had a couple of high pitch-count innings but I feel good though. Had a couple good ones, had a couple of bad ones. Figure it out along the way. It's nice when you've got some help from the guys behind you, too."
Sale was helped by his defense in the first, when James Dozier led off with a single and tried to score on a double down the left-field line from Jorge Polanco, but was thrown out in a close play at the plate. ByungHo Park was also picked off second base by Vazquez in the second, and Eddie Rosario was caught stealing third in the fifth. Rosario went 2-for-2 against Sale, including a double off the wall.
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The Red Sox threatened early against Gibson, but he got out of a jam with two runners on thanks to a nice defensive play by Dozier at second. Pablo Sandoval had the most success against the right-hander, going 2-for-2, including a double in the fifth.
"That's a really good lineup over there," Gibson said. "They grind at-bats out, which is really impressive. If they don't swing at the first pitch, they try to lull you and then swing at that second pitch."
The Twins didn't get on the board until the sixth, when Boston's Joe Kelly loaded the bases with three consecutive walks to open the inning. Joe Mauer grounded into a double play to bring home a run.
Dozier drove in a run with an RBI single in the seventh to score Rosario, who picked up his third hit of the game off former Twins lefty Fernando Abad.
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Red Sox up next: Lefty Eduardo Rodriguez starts Monday's 1:05 p.m. ET game for the Red Sox in Sarasota against the Orioles. Righty setup man Tyler Thornburg, who was slowed by arm fatigue, is scheduled to appear in his first Grapefruit League game since March 1. Boston's starting infield of Mitch Moreland, Dustin Pedroia, Xander Bogaerts and Pablo Sandoval will make the trip. Watch the game live on MLB.TV.
Twins up next: Right-hander Phil Hughes makes his final start of the spring for the Twins in their final night game, shown live on MLB.TV at 5:05 p.m. CT Monday against the Pirates in Bradenton. Hughes is looking to bounce back after allowing five earned runs, including two homers, over two innings his last time out.
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