Chris Sale looked like Chris Sale in his 2022 debut: 'I'm not broken anymore'
BOSTON -- Tuesday night was an important night for the Boston Red Sox. Chris Sale made his return to the mound, and he looked a lot like the Chris Sale of old.
It had been nearly nine months since Sale last toed the rubber for Boston. The lefty was sidelined to start the season with a fracture in his ribs that he suffered in February, and he had some mixed results in his rehab outings leading up to his debut.
But there was no rust and no postgame tantrums from Sale on Tuesday night. He tossed five scoreless innings against the Rays in St. Petersburg, and allowed just three hits and walked just one. He set down five Rays by way of the K and had full command of his arsenal, throwing 53 of his 78 pitches for strikes.
It was much, much different than the Sale we saw last season when he returned from Tommy John surgery.
"I'm not broken anymore," Sale said after his outing. "It's different this year. It's definitely different this year. That's all I've really got to say."
Sale's slider was its usual filthy self and finished off four of his strikeouts. Three of those came with the batter frozen at the plate, helplessly watching the pitch break into the zone. His fifth and final strikeout, part of his 1-2-3 fifth inning, came on a 94 mph fastball.
Sale topped 96.9 mph on the radar gun with his fastball, which averaged 95.1 mph. But even more promising was Sale's ability to work out of a couple of jams. The Rays had two on and just one out in the third, but Sale was able to get out of the frame unscathed. He allowed a leadoff double in the bottom of the fourth, and the runner advanced to third on a groundout, but Sale needed just two pitches to finish off the Rays in the inning.
After the Sox spotted him a 2-0 lead in the top of the fifth, Sale set the Rays down in order to finish his evening.
"He threw the ball well and finished well," Boston manager Alex Cora said of Sale. "Did an outstanding job toward the end, had good velocity and command of the pitches were OK. Delivery was under control, and he gave us five innings, so that's a good start."
Unfortunately, that good start went to waste as the Red Sox bullpen and defense fell apart in the sixth. The Rays plated three runs in the inning, including two on a wild play where reliever Matt Strahm was hit with a comebacker, fired an errant throw to first to let a run score, and then Franchy Cordero threw an errant throw home to let another run score. The Rays won, 3-2.
That part wasn't good for the Red Sox. The loss dropped them behind the Rays in the AL Wild Card race, and dropped their record to a putrid 11-22 against the AL East.
But the silver lining is Chris Sale is back, and he looked like Chris Sale for five innings. It bodes well for Boston for the rest of the season.
The plan is now for Sale to start the final game of Boston's weekend series against the Yankees on Sunday ahead of the All-Star break.
"Nothing better than pitching at Yankee Stadium," said Sale. "It will be a good one. Got a couple more here to get, so we'll focus on that. When that comes, I'll be ready."