Sale displays his improv talents

BOSTON -- This was a Chris Sale that hasn’t been seen very often. One of the elite power pitchers of the last decade, Sale became more of a craftsman on Friday night at Fenway Park.

But you couldn’t argue with the bottom-line results in the ace lefty’s return after missing one start due to a positive COVID-19 test.

While leading the Red Sox to a 7-1 victory over the Orioles, Sale got 10 of his 15 outs via the ground ball. Of Sale’s 90 starts for Boston, this was the fourth in which he got nine outs or more on grounders.

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Of the 79 pitches Sale threw against Baltimore, he got a mere four whiffs on a night he had just one strikeout. It was Sale’s second start with the Red Sox of five innings or more with fewer than two strikeouts, after a win in Oakland on April 2, 2019.

Sale fired 40 sliders, 23 fastballs and 16 changeups. Most important was that he allowed just one run in five innings -- a solo homer by Austin Hays that put the Red Sox in a brief 1-0 hole.

“I just think that this was just kind of how the game played out. I know you guys were watching, obviously, and my fastball wasn’t really jumping out of my hand tonight,” said Sale. “So I really had to just rely on my secondary pitches, my slider, my changeup. I was leaning on my defense to make some plays, and they did that. I think it was just kind of how the game played out.”

Power? Finesse? A mixture of both? It really doesn’t matter right now to Sale or his teammates. This is the “find a way” time of the year.

With 13 games left in their season, the 84-65 Red Sox are in possession of the first American League Wild Card spot by a half-game over the Yankees, who beat Cleveland. The Blue Jays lost to the Twins and are a game behind Boston. All three AL East teams are tied in the loss column.

To get to where they want to go, the Red Sox will look to ride Sale down the stretch. Due to the fact that they still have three off-days -- more than any of their competitors -- Boston could start Sale three more times. Even in this season in which he is coming back from Tommy John surgery, Sale says he is ready to carry a big load for crunch time.

“That’s what we do,” Sale said. “That’s what we’re supposed to do. We’ve been getting a lot of extra days with days off and extra arms and things like that, but this is what I’m used to [in more normal times]. Hey, these are big games coming up. They’re all big games. Down the stretch, we’ve got to make a good final push to break the seal and get to the postseason. It’s all hands on deck and whatever they need, they need and I’ll give it to them.”

Without question, this was one of Sale’s strangest ramp-ups to a start, given that he was confined to his house for more than a week.

This led to some major improvisation.

“I was lucky enough, I had people bringing stuff to my house, whether it be weights, jump ropes, heck, I even got a portable mound from Babson [College], so it worked out well,” said Sale.

Though Sale missed one start due to his positive test, he was asymptomatic the entire time and was able to keep his arm in shape with a fairly typical buildup.

“Yeah, I stayed on my exact schedule. I threw a six-inning simulated game in my backyard, actually,” said Sale. “I got a pretty good-sized backyard, so I was able to stretch out to 90 feet and play some long toss as well. Threw a bullpen as well, in my backyard. It was all really kind of the same except for -- not that I lift big, heavy weights or anything -- but I didn’t have the squat rack there or some other things, but I made do.”

In five starts since he came back from Tommy John, Sale is 4-0 with a 2.40 ERA. The progression is ongoing in terms of arm strength and velocity, but the early returns have been encouraging.

“He pitched well,” said Red Sox manager Alex Cora. “The slider is a lot better than his first few outings. The velocity wasn’t there, but we talked a little bit -- it’s hard to get it going, those 10 days, trying to do it by yourself, doing everything in the yard, he even had that fake mound. Just throwing into a net, it’s not the same.

“So he had to pitch today. It was good to see his slider play the way it did today, a lot of weak contact. We played great defensively behind him, and he gave us enough.”

Considering the circumstances, it was more than enough.

“I feel like Chris Sale finds a new way to amaze me every time he takes the mound. I mean, the guy’s been nails for as long as he's been in the big leagues,” said Red Sox reliever Matt Barnes, who also made his return from the COVID-related injured list with a scoreless inning. “I mean, Sale was great tonight. Sale is always great.”