Chris Sale goes on IL before Rays and Red Sox are rained out
The Red Sox placed left-hander Chris Sale on the injured list on Friday with shoulder inflammation. It’s another setback for the seven-time All-Star as he attempts to re-establish himself as a reliable member of the rotation.
“It’s just kind of a gut punch,” Sale told reporters before Friday night’s game against the Tampa Bay Rays was rained out. “I hate feeling like this. I started having fun playing baseball again. And now, back to not having fun. That sucks.”
A day after being pulled from a start in the fourth inning, Sale said doctors weren’t sure what the injury was but he didn’t expect to need surgery. Acknowledging his past arm problems, he said he had always come back before and will do so again.
“If there’s anything I can prove, it’s you’re not going to keep me down,” he said. “I’m just going to keep rolling. You knock me down I’m going to get back up.”
Friday night’s series opener with Tampa Bay was called about an hour after the scheduled first pitch and rescheduled for Monday at 4:05 p.m.
Boston right-hander Garrett Whitlock had been scheduled to face Rays righty Tyler Glasnow. The teams were already scheduled for a day-night doubleheader on Saturday; righty Trevor Kelley will be the opener for Tampa in the day game, facing Whitlock, with Glasnow going in the nightcap against a Boston pitcher to be determined.
Sale, 34, who hasn’t had an injury-free season since 2017, essentially remained on schedule for the first two months of this season, going 5-2 with a 4.58 ERA through 11 starts. Since getting knocked around for five runs in five innings by the Guardians on April 30, he was 4-0 with a 2.23 ERA and 35 strikeouts in 32 1/3 innings.
“I was actually kind of getting used to sitting in front of you guys talking about good stuff,” Sale said. “It’s been a rocky road. I felt like I was over the hump, I really did. I felt like I was back to being myself. For something like this to happen, it’s obviously deflating.”
But he felt something went wrong in the second inning of Thursday’s start against Cincinnati and struggled through another inning-plus. He left the game in the fourth after two visits from the medical staff.