Chris Sale Continues Utter Dominance Of Yankees
By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- If Rafael Devers had not smacked a game-tying home run to left-center field off flamethrower Aroldis Chapman on Sunday night, then the Red Sox would have fallen to an improbable 0-3 against the Yankees in games started by Chris Sale this season. But none of that would have been the Red Sox ace's fault.
Sale allowed just one run over seven innings while striking out 12 Yankees on Sunday night, continuing a run of dominance against the Red Sox' closest opposition in the AL East.
With three starts against the Yankees thus far, Sale has now compiled a 1.19 ERA and 0.838 WHIP against the Yankees. He's averaged roughly 7.2 innings per start, recording double-digit strikeout totals in all three starts.
But of course, Sale's dominance has not brought about easy wins.
In Sale's first start against the Yankees in late April, he allowed three runs (two earned) over eight innings while striking out 10 batters. But he was opposed that night by Masahiro Tanaka, who pitched his only shutout of the season while allowing just three hits on the night. The Yankees won 3-0.
Sale got another crack at the Yankees in mid-July, and he was even better than he was in his first start. He kept the Yankees scoreless through 7.2 innings, striking out 13 batters while allowing just three hits and two walks. But he was pulled in the eighth at 118 pitches. With the Red Sox leading 1-0, Craig Kimbrel got the Red Sox out of the eighth inning but allowed a leadoff home run to Matt Holliday in the ninth. The game ended up going 16 innings, with the Yankees winning 4-1.
Sunday night in the Bronx looked to be another excellent Sale start squandered, as the Red Sox could muster just one run off Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery. Sale allowed one earned run, though it just as likely could have been ruled to have been unearned, as it came on a play when a fly ball bounced off Mookie Betts' glove in right field. Matt Barnes relieved Sale to start the eighth and after recording an out, he promptly allowed a walk, a single, a walk, and a sacrifice fly. The Yankees took that 2-1 lead into the ninth, when Devers launched his home run, and Andrew Benintendi later drove in the winning run with an RBI single in the 10th.
For sale, his 1.19 ERA this year against the Yankees is almost exactly in line with his career ERA against New York. In 76.1 innings over 13 appearances (10 starts) against the Yankees, he has a 1.18 ERA and a 0.825 WHIP with 96 strikeouts and just 16 walks. In Sale's career, Yankees are batting just .172 against him.
With the win, the Red Sox stretched their division lead to 5.5 games over the Yankees, their largest lead of the season.
"Anytime you can come up here and win a series in this division this late in the year, it's big," Sale said. "Like I said before, we know where we're at, we know what we need to do, we know the task at hand. We're just grinding every day."
And with 12 more punchouts, Sale has now recorded double-digit strikeout totals in 16 of his starts this year. He's closing in on Pedro Martinez's club record of 19 such starts, set in 1999. Sale is on pace to record 334 strikeouts this year, which would break Martinez's franchise record for single-season strikeouts at 313.
Sale leads the American League with a 2.51 ERA, comfortably ahead of Corey Kluber (2.71) and James Paxton (2.78). Sale is also tied for the AL lead in wins with 14, and he leads all of baseball with 241 strikeouts -- 21 more than Max Scherzer.
As the schedule now stands, Sale is set to face the Yankees two more times. First will be this upcoming Saturday night at Fenway Park. Barring any rainouts or other scheduling quirks, Sale is slated to face the Yankees yet again on Sunday Night Baseball on Sept. 3.