Sharp Sale in command
Stifles Jays, ends drought at Fenway
Two-thirds of one baseball game on a schedule of 162 of them can significantly alter a team’s outlook, fortify hope and curb doubt based on nothing more than one player’s performance, provided that player is a ballclub’s unquestioned X factor.
Chris Sale is that important for the Red Sox, that good when he’s on, that irreplaceable, that destructive to the bullpen when he’s not himself.
Sale was so good yesterday afternoon at Fenway Park that the Toronto Blue Jays managed just two hits against him in six shutout innings. Only one of the outs against him reached the outfield. He walked two and struck out 12, sending the Red Sox to a 5-0 victory and sharing a two-hit shutout with Marcus Walden and Darwinzon Hernandez.
But it wasn’t his strikeout total that he found significant as much as how he went about getting them. Six came on sliders, four on fastballs and two on changeups.
“I had a lot better feel for my changeup today. That’s something I really haven’t had all year,” Sale said. “I think I was able to execute my changeup as an out pitch instead of more as a show pitch. Obviously, this game
is a little bit easier if you have more pitches you can get an out with.”
Personal catcher Sandy Leon told him what pitch to throw and where to put it and Sale saw to it that Leon didn’t have to move his mitt. Sale messed with the hitters’ timing all day and induced so many bad swings. His fastball floated in the 90-92 mph range early in the game, but when he reached back for more in key spots, it was all there. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the fifth inning with a four-pitch walk and became the Blue Jays’ only runner to advance into scoring position when he moved to second on Brandon Drury’s two-out single.
In many ways, it was Sale’s most impressive inning. He fanned Cavan Biggio with a 96-mph fastball and then cranked it up to 97 to strike out Freddy Galvis.
“I think that’s where I’ve been getting most of my problems, trying to overthrow it and it flattens out and obviously leaks back over the plate,” Sale said of his fastball. “I think you start to realize it’s more command and working different tunnels of the strike zone and I was able to do that today.”
He located his fastball and had an even sharper slider than usual. He had it all working and the Blue Jays didn’t stand a chance.
“Throughout most of the year, it’s just been fastball, slider and my fastball command hasn’t been there,” Sale said. “So today was big for me from a command standpoint and also being able to throw my changeup late in the count and use it as an out pitch.”
The dominance of the Blue Jays held special significance because of the way they had abused him in three previous starts this season, when he posted a 7.98 ERA and they hit .359 against him.
As long as the subject is his own pitching, Sale is such a harsh critic he makes Simon Cowell seem like a slobbering apologist, so when Sale expresses encouragement in an effort it resonates.
“To be able to do this against a team that has had my number every time I’ve pitched against them is a step in the right direction,” Sale said.
The three-start slump (0-2, 8.28 ERA) that he took into the day led the organization to pool resources to try to come up with a game plan for getting him back on track. An army of teammates watched him throw his bullpen session between starts as a show of support.
“Through all of this that’s the biggest thing is realizing that good, bad or indifferent I’m not alone,” Sale said. “I’m not out on an island with no one to lean on or no one to get advice from. This past week was obviously big for me coming off three of the worst starts of my career, trying to turn it around and guys are picking me up, having my back, pointing me in the right direction, along with the coaching staff.”
For most pitchers, having two walks and 12 strikeouts in a start would be the most significant cause for encouragement, but strangely, Sale has kept his walks (29) down and strikeouts (172 in 117⅔ innings) high all season. Home runs (17) have played a part in his frustration, but solid contact was virtually nonexistent for the Jays.
“This year has kind of been all over the place. I’ve been as bad as I’ve ever been in my career and I’ve also had some of the best games I’ve ever had this year,” Sale said. “It’s more confusing than anything.”
It’s been such a strange season. Until yesterday, Sale (4-9, 4.05) had not walked away with a win in a start at Fenway Park since July 11, 2018, a drought of 13 starts.
That’s a long dry spell, but because Sale was so good yesterday and has had such a consistently elite career, it’s easy to believe this was the start of a streak in the opposite direction.