Kimbrel finishes Red Sox win with immaculate inning

Mookie Betts' three-run homer may have given the Boston Red Sox the lead for good Thursday, but it was closer Craig Kimbrel who slammed the door shut - with authority - on the Milwaukee Brewers.

Not only did Kimbrel strike out five of the six batters he faced at Miller Park, but he made sure the Brewers would not make a miracle comeback by throwing the 83rd immaculate inning in baseball history in the bottom of the ninth to preserve Boston's 4-1 victory. Hernan Perez, Travis Shaw, and Domingo Santana played the roles of Kimbrel's helpless victims in the ninth, and the 28-year-old relief ace finished his inning with a flourish by pumping a 98-mph fastball past Santana to secure the victory.

Thanks to his perfect frame (and a pair of strikeouts in the eighth inning), Kimbrel upped his 2017 strikeout-to-walk ratio to an incredible 31-2.

Kimbrel now owns the second immaculate inning of 2017, joining Cincinnati's Drew Storen, who did it in April versus Baltimore. In addition, Kimbrel became only the third Red Sox pitcher to twirl a perfect frame - Pedro Martinez (2002) and Clay Buchholz (2012) are the others - and the first American League pitcher to do so in nearly three years.