Through 24 innings in Los Angeles, the Boston Red Sox’s offense had gone silent against the Dodgers, and Chris Sale had had enough.
FOX cameras caught the Red Sox ace giving a fiery speech in Boston’s dugout prior to the seventh inning of Game 4 of the 2018 World Series, and while the full entirety of Sale’s eruption isn’t known, he did lob a shot at Dodgers starter Rich Hill during his attempt to fire up the Red Sox’s bats.
“He throws two (expletive) pitches!” Sale said as seen on the telecast, via Yahoo! Sports’ Jeff Passan.
Hill had stymied Boston’s offense through the first six innings, holding them to a 1-for-19 mark with six strikeouts. The Dodgers left-hander was removed after one out in the seventh inning, and the Red Sox went to work against LA’s bullpen, scoring three runs in the seventh, one in the eighth and five in the ninth to grab a 9-6 win and come within one game of a World Series title.
How much of an impact Sale’s pump-up speech had is anyone’s guess, but Red Sox slugger J.D. Martinez acknowledged the left-hander’s analysis of Hill’s repertoire.
“I think I heard that,” he smiled and told Passan.
Sale was expected to get the start Sunday in Game 5, but manager Alex Cora switched things up and has tabbed David Price as the man on the mound in the potential championship-clincher. If Boston’s offense struggles against Clayton Kershaw perhaps Sale can get his guys going again with another fiery monologue.
He will, however, need to find a different dig for Kershaw, who has four very effective pitches in his arsenal.
