Red Sox’s Chris Sale Flirts With Perfect Game in Return From IL
Chris Sale missed over two months with a stress reaction in his left shoulder. And yet, the Boston Red Sox’s ace looked no worse for wear in his return to Fenway Park on Friday.
The 34-year-old lefty, activated off the 60-day IL prior to first pitch, showed no signs of rust in his first big-league start since June 1st. If anything, most would’ve assumed he never left in the first place amidst a dominating performance versus the Detroit Tigers.
Following a brief rehab stint at Triple-A Worcester, Sale carved through Detroit’s feeble lineup as he carried a perfect game into the fifth inning. But after retiring the first two batters, Kerry Carpenter broke it up with one swing, blasting a 434-foot solo shot into the bullpens in right-centre.
That was the only hit against Sale, who struck out seven over 4.2 innings en route to a 5-2 win. He threw 58 pitches, 42 strikes, and departed for the night after hitting Javier Baez – later scoring on Riley Greene’s RBI single – with a back-foot slider.
Sale leaned on his fastball-slider combination, a recipe he has used several times before, with the two occupying 49 of his 58 pitches while inducing 12 whiffs on 26 swings (46.2 percent).
Seven of the 16 batters he faced went down on strikes, including five of the first seven. The 6-foot-6 hurler’s wipeout breaking ball kept most Tigers hitters on their toes, especially Jake Rogers, who dropped to one knee and nearly face planted onto home plate after becoming his final punch out victim.
It was a massive step forward for Sale, whose career has been overridden by injuries over the last several seasons, including 2023. He hasn’t logged 100 innings since 2019, a campaign that ended prematurely due to an elbow injury that ultimately required surgery.
But now that he’s healthy again, the seven-time All-Star hopes to repeat Friday’s success in as many starts as possible between now and the end of the regular season.
“The first start back always means a little something more, just because a lot of work goes into it,” Sale said post-game. “You just kind of appreciate it a little bit more. You get something taken away that you really like, it’s never fun. You take a kid’s favorite toy away, he’s going to throw a fit for a little bit.”
Boston’s rotation is inching closer to full capacity following Sale’s return, with Garrett Whitlock and Tanner Houck also expected to rejoin the active roster next week. Upon doing so, they’ll fortify a staff held together by James Paxton and Brayan Bello.
“He’s in a great place,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of Sale. “I think Chris — over the years and with everything that has happened, whatever obstacles life presents — he’s going to be OK. I don’t think he’s going to fight [the ups and downs] anymore. He’s just going to keep working. And you see him — he looks stronger.”
Sale appeared to be finally hitting his stride when he went down in June, flashing his vintage form while pitching to a 2.25 ERA and 2.74 FIP with 41 strikeouts over 36 innings in six starts.
With Boston’s victory over Detroit a night ago, the club improved to three games within the Toronto Blue Jays for the final AL wild-card seed entering Saturday’s slate. But they still sit 2.5 games shy of the Seattle Mariners, who’re half a game back of the last postseason spot.
If Sale stays healthy, the Red Sox should have a fighting chance to make up ground in the standings over these final two months.
“The needles going in, the suction cups, the machines you put on, all the different things — that’s the not-fun part,” Sale said. “Going out there, that never gets old. Tomorrow’s not guaranteed. I’m not saving anything for tomorrow, because I don’t know if it’s coming.”
-Thomas Hall
Twitter: @ThomasHall85
Photo: KA Sports Photos. This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license.