Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale put on a show in Toronto on Thursday afternoon.
Chris Sale made his fourth start for the Red Sox on Thursday, and once again did not receive much run support. Entering the game, Sale had racked up 21.2 innings and an AL-high 29 strikeouts.
It appears a lot of bats have holes in them today … pic.twitter.com/wIPsj6nNOm
— MLB GIFS (@MLBGIFs) April 20, 2017
More of the Same:
Sale pitched eight innings on the day striking out 13 batters. He was, in a word, filthy. After fanning Jose Bautista, for the fourth time, he left it up to his offense. The Red Sox put the lefty in a position to pick up the win after a Mitch Moreland double was followed up with a Xander Bogaerts RBI-single.
Unfortunately for Sale, he did not return and closer Craig Kimbrel allowed a game-tying home run to Kendrys Morales. The Red Sox would eventually win the game in the 10th inning.
Hung out to Dry:
Only three pitchers have received fewer runs-per-start than Sale (1.50 runs per start) this season.
- KC — Ian Kennedy (0.67 runs per start)
- OAK — Jharel Cotton (0.67 runs per start)
- CHW — Jose Quintana (1.33 runs per start)
Of course, it’s no surprise that the Red Sox opposing pitcher on the day, Marco Estrada, has the same (1.50) average run-support per game.
With 42 strikeouts, Sale now has 15 more punch-outs than (CLE) Danny Salazar and (TB) Chris Archer.
