Sale keeps it together
White Sox ace pitches well in return but loses to rival Cubs
CHICAGO — Chris Sale returned from his jersey-trashing suspension to smiles and hugs from teammates and pitched well.
It wasn’t good enough, though, not with John Lackey outpitching him and Aroldis Chapman throwing 102 mph fastballs.
The Cubs did just enough against the White Sox ace in his six innings and rode their own pitching to a 3-1 victory Thursday night in Chicago’s rivalry series.
“It was fun to be in the dugout and check that out,” Lackey said of Chapman’s sizzling fastballs.
Sale faced dozens of reporters after the game, heaping praise on his teammates, sidestepping questions about the jersey-tearing and expressing gratitude to be back.
“It felt like I was out on an island, really,” Sale said of his suspension.
Sale (14-4) served a five-day ban for tearing up 1976-style uniforms he didn’t want to wear before his previous scheduled start. He had command issues, but worked out of trouble while allowing two runs and six hits.
Lackey (8-7) allowed one run in six innings for his first win since June 8. Chapman, in his second appearance since being acquired from the Yankees, struck out two and consistently hit 102 mph in his first save for his new team.
“It makes me feel proud when I go out there and the fans are cheering,” Chapman said through catcher Miguel Montero, who served as his translator.
Kris Bryant, who homered against Sale in the All-Star game, hit an RBI double off the center field wall in the first inning off Sale.
Ben Zobrist added an RBI single in the third and doubled and scored in the eighth as the Cubs earned a split of the four-game series and spoiled Sale’s night.
The lefty was scratched from his start Saturday, sent home and then suspended for cutting up a number of collared throwback jerseys the team was supposed to wear for the game. Sale said they were uncomfortable and became enraged when the team wouldn’t switch them out, feeling the team was putting marketing over winning.
“We’re here to win games and from this point forward I think that’s our main focus,” Sale said.” I hope it is, too.”
The incident provided plenty of fodder for heckling Cubs fans at Wrigley Field. The Cubs tweeted out their lineup before the game with the line “Throwback Thursday, anyone?”