Sale back on schedule
Rebounds to shut down Jays
TORONTO — Whatever Chris Sale was doing wrong against the Cleveland Indians was fixed last night against the Toronto Blue Jays.
And then some.
Five days after submitting his worst performance of the season, Sale took the mound at Rogers Centre by storm, striking out 11 batters with seven-plus scoreless innings as the Red Sox squeaked away with a 3-0 win, their second straight.
Sale has now twice responded to his horrible starts against the Indians with brilliant performances.
After he allowed seven runs against Cleveland on Aug. 1, he showed up at Tropicana Field with laser focus, striking out 13 Rays in eight shutout innings. He gave up just two hits.
Then last Thursday happened.
“It seemed like a month,” Sale said of his latest disaster against the Tribe, a three-inning effort in which he gave up seven runs. “Any time you go out and have a bad one, you want to get right back out there. As a competitor, being in sports, that’s what you want to do. You want to get back out there and right the ship.”
So what exactly happened in Cleveland last week?
Manager John Farrell shot down the idea that Sale might have been tipping his pitches. He never even mentioned the thought that the Indians might have picked up on the Red Sox’ signs (they felt it important to change their signs during Game 1 of the ALDS against the Indians last year).
“I can’t say there’s anything in his delivery that’s telegraphing or tipping or anything,” Farrell said. “To me, it was more pitches up in the strike zone that they capitalized on.”
For Farrell, the problem was simply location, which is the same thing Sale said immediately after allowing seven runs in three innings at Progressive Field.
“I think if you look at my last start, location is the key,” Sale said. “Even today when I made a mistake they hit it pretty good. I think it’s more location than it is anything else.”
But no matter where Sale threw the ball last night, the Jays looked lost.
Wicked sliders inside and out created brutal strikes on check swings and offbalance swings that looked crazier than a Hanley Ramirez whiff. And while some questioned whether Sale’s velocity, down about 1 mph in his last start, was an issue, the lefty was throwing at an even lower velocity last night, averaging 94.5 mph on his four-seamer and 93.8 mph on his sinker, per Brooks Baseball.
And yet the Jays were lifeless.
“That was a vintage Chris Sale outing that we’ve seen so many times this year,” Farrell said. “He was powerful.”
Kendrys Morales got the Jays’ first hit off Sale with a double to left-center in the second inning. Sale then struck out four of the next five, including three straight in the third inning. He didn’t allow another hit until the eighth, when Morales singled.
“Watching him do his thing, that was exciting,” said Rajai Davis, the newcomer who played a key role in the win.
Sale entered the game with the lowest career ERA in Rogers Centre history, then lowered it some more. He’s now thrown 47 innings in Toronto with a 0.96 ERA. He’s allowed one run in his last 33 innings here.
His dominance in direct response to his poor outing in Cleveland might have overshadowed a different moment that’ll go in the history books.
While striking out the side in the third, Sale became the fastest pitcher to 1,500 strikeouts in baseball history. It took him 1,2881⁄3 innings, besting Kerry Wood’s mark of 1,303.
“For me I didn’t even know that was a stat until I heard it during the game today,” Sale said. “I have the same confidence going in against this team, against that team. It doesn’t matter who I’m facing, where I’m at. I strap it on the same way.”
The Red Sox offense was mostly quiet against lefty Brett Anderson, and their difficulties hitting against lefties may become an issue if they can’t figure it out before the postseason. They’ve hit just .257 off lefties since the start of July.
They plated their first run in the sixth when Davis stole second base after getting picked off first — he just kept running and got hit in the back by the throw — and then scored on a single by Eduardo Nunez.
Ramirez hit a solo shot in the seventh inning, his 20th home run of the season.