Levine: Chris Sale Good Through 5 Innings Before Malfunction
By Bruce Levine--
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- The heavy lifting for spring training is over for White Sox ace Chris Sale, who will start Opening Day.
Going six innings against a full Angels lineup on Thursday, Sale looked good until running out of gas in the sixth. The roof caved in on Sale with back-to-back home runs off the bat of Mike Trout and Chris Cron. He allowed four runs in six innings.
The real competition into late-game situations was stimulating for Sale.
"It is a little different down here, rather than the regular season, when you are in attack mode, winning mode," he said. "At the end of the day, winning games are still important. This start kind of gets the ball rolling for you. The more you win, the better off you will be. We are still here to win games, but it is a little different."
Sale will have one more outing, next Tuesday. Then he'll get five days of rest before opening up in Oakland against the Athletics on April 4.
The long balls he gave up in the sixth inning Thursday were almost predicable for Sale.
"Sometimes you feel it before you even release the ball," he said. "It is not a fun feeling out there."
"All in all, it was a good day. The sixth inning got away a little bit. That is what we are still here for, to build up and use that as fuel."
Sale threw 88 pitches in the game and another 17 in the bullpen after coming out. He will wind down to 60-70 pitches in his final Cactus League appearance.
"My body feels good, my arm feels great," Sale said. "That is really half the battle down here. With that moving forward, I feel prepared for (opening day)."
Last year was mostly a standout season for Sale, save for a few hiccups after the All-Star break. He set a franchise strikeout record of 274 last year. He also led the AL with a 6.52 strikeout-to-walk ration.
Bruce Levine covers the Cubs and White Sox for 670 The Score and CBSChicago.com. Follow him on Twitter @MLBBruceLevine.