Red Sox Wrap: Sox Drop Series Opener To White Sox In 1-0 Pitchers’ Duel

Chris Sale stifled White Sox hitters Friday night, but Dylan Covey did the same to Red Sox batters, and he did it just a touch better.

Chicago claimed a 1-0 pitchers’ duel victory over Boston in the series opener of the three-game set at Fenway Park.

Sale allowed just one run on six hits with one walk and 10 strikeouts over eight innings, while Covey held the Sox scoreless over six frames, allowing just three hits and one walk while striking out seven.

The Red Sox fall to 43-21 with the loss, while the White Sox climb to 21-40.

Here’s how it all went down:

GAME IN A WORD
Quiet.

Thanks to lights-out pitching from both starters, neither team could get much going on offense, resulting in a quiet, quick contest.

ON THE BUMP
— After two rough outings, Sale posted a big turnaround Friday.

The southpaw didn’t allow a single runner to get past first base until the seventh inning, while posting 1-2-3 stanzas in the second, fifth and eighth. In addition, he also clocked his fastball in as high as 100 mph, with a 100.3 mph heater serving as the fastest strikeout pitch from any starter in Major League Baseball this season.

https://twitter.com/statcast/status/1005249308025737216

The only trouble Sale ran into came in the seventh, when Kevan Smith led off the frame with a double. Smith moved to third on a Yoan Moncada ground out, then scored the next at-bat on a single from Trayce Thompson to make it 1-0. Sale escaped the inning when Sandy Leon threw a missile of a pickoff down to second base after a pitch to catch Thompson off guard.

— Heath Hembree replaced Sale and pitched a clean ninth inning.

IN THE BATTER’S BOX
— Although the Red Sox struggled to plate any runs, they still had a few opportunities to score. They put runners in scoring position in the first, fifth and seventh innings, but went 0-for-6 in those situations. Meanwhile, they were retired in order by Covey in the second, third, fourth and sixth frames, striking out a total of 10 times in the game.

— Andrew Benintendi, Xander Bogaerts and Rafael Devers all had one hit.

— Brock Holt, Mitch Moreland, Eduardo Nunez, Jackie Bradley Jr., Blake Swihart and Leon went hitless.

TWEET OF THE NIGHT
Agreed.

UP NEXT
The two sides will continue their three-game set Saturday afternoon. First pitch from Fenway Park is set for 4:05 p.m. ET. David Price is expected to get the ball for Boston.