Sale goes 'full throttle,' hits 97.8 mph in finale

BOSTON -- Chris Sale didn’t get any strikeouts in his last start, a career first in a non-injury related outing.

Six days later, Sale struck back by turning in a stellar performance against the Guardians that should quell some of the concerns about his inconsistency this season, at least until he takes the ball next on Friday night in Philadelphia.

Achieving season highs in innings (6 1/3) and pitches (98), Sale limited Cleveland to three hits and one run, walking none and striking out five to lead his Red Sox to a 7-1 victory in a soggy Sunday rubber match of a three-game series at Fenway.

In two of his last three starts, Sale has proved that he can still pitch at a high level.

What he’s out to prove next is that he can do it on a consistent basis. In recent years, Sale’s biggest obstacle has been his health. Now that he is healthy, the challenge is to shake off the rust and regain his fluidity.

“I’ve got to go out there and be great,” said Sale. “Good games, bad games, it doesn’t really dictate what my next outing does. I have to go out there and be who I have to be every time out.”

After the shellacking Sale took in Baltimore on April 24, there was concern he might be tipping his pitches. In the ensuing days, manager Alex Cora and pitching coach Dave Bush turned away from that subject and tried to get Sale to be more athletic and less robotic in his delivery.

At least on Sunday, it was mission accomplished.

“I switched up my delivery a little bit, just trying to get more loose,” said Sale. “Trying to get a little bit more whip back in my arm. I just felt a little stiff the last few times. It was something A.C. brought up. Just need to get a little bit more athletic, get a little bit more fluidity in my delivery. It worked today, so keep rolling.”

“He was moving well from the get go. He made some adjustments,” said Cora. “The extension, and how you get there, is the most important thing. He was getting there the wrong way. But it's all about repetitions. You haven't played in a while. It's hard sometimes. I know he expects a lot from himself, but we’ve got to be patient. Let’s not get ahead of ourselves and [just] be ready for Friday.”

As recently as Saturday, Sale was fine-tuning his delivery to get back to the pitcher he wants to be.

“Deliveries are complicated. There's a lot of moving parts,” said Bush. “There's a lot of things to think about and analyze. Sometimes guys get too caught up in the specifics of the movement and they lose sight of the athleticism and naturalness that just makes them move well. So with Chris, it's just identifying a couple of really key points.”

If Sale can bottle the tweaks that worked so effectively on Sunday, good things could be in store.

Sale led with No. 1 on Sunday, firing 59 fastballs and topping out at 97.8 mph. He mixed in 22 sliders, nine changeups and eight sinkers.

“He has plus stuff across the board. Then when he starts commanding, he can be a handful. We kind of saw that today,” said Guardians manager Terry Francona.

The defenders who played behind Sale appreciated his pace and effectiveness on a day it wasn’t necessarily fun to be outdoors. As usual, Sale went sleeveless.

“He was just ripping the heater,” said infielder Christian Arroyo, who aided the cause with two hits and two RBIs. “The slider was really good. The command was definitely there.”

From right field, Alex Verdugo -- who had a homer and three RBIs -- could feel Sale’s intensity when the Guardians finally pushed a run across against him by leading the sixth with two straight hits. The next three hitters were sent down in succession, and Sale’s second-to-last pitch of the inning was his hardest of the day.

“You kind of saw him empty the tank a little bit and throw some 96, 97, 98, and that’s the Sale that we remember,” said Verdugo. “He knew it was time to empty the tank and go full throttle. He battled his butt off on a tough day and he was huge for us.”