Red Sox Waste Another Chris Sale Gem, But Grab 4-1 Win Over Blue Jays In Extras
BOSTON (CBS) -- The Red Sox wasted another gem by Chris Sale on Thursday, but in the end were able to walk away with a 4-1 win over the Blue Jays in 10 innings.
Sale was masterful in his eight innings of work, striking out 13 Blue Jays hitters while tossing 80 of his 102 pitches for strikes. He allowed just four hits and one walk, and had five 1-2-3 innings over his outing. Sale struck out the side in the bottom of the seventh inning, and punched out his last batter of the day.
But John Farrell called upon closer Craig Kimbrel to get the final three outs after Boston plated the first run of the game in the bottom of the eighth on a Xander Bogaerts RBI single. Kimbrel surrendered a homer to Toronto DH Kendrys Morales on his second pitch of the afternoon, meaning Sale wouldn't factor into the decision after another great performance on the mound.
The Red Sox answered with three runs in the top of the 10th inning on a bases loaded, three-run double by Mookie Betts. Kimbrel struck out the side in the bottom of the inning to end the game and earn the victory.
With his eight dominant innings, Sale lowered his ERA to 0.90 on the season. He is up to 42 strikeouts in 29.2 innings of work.
Boston took two of three from the Jays in Toronto, and now head to Baltimore for a three-game set with the Orioles.