To say Chris Sale has been dominant this season would be an understatement.
The Boston Red Sox left-hander has struck out at least 10 batters in eight of his starts this season, including Friday night’s 10-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals when he struck out a whopping 12 batters.
He had plenty of help from his offense at Kauffman Stadium, with Boston plating four runs in the first inning.
“I sound like a broken record, but you get four runs before you even take the mound, it’s nice,” Sale said after the game, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage.
The win not only marked his ninth of the season, but the 100th of the hard-throwing lefty’s career. In his last six starts, Sale is toting a 1.10 ERA.
He was hitting 99 mph on the gun late in his outing, never seeming to lose velocity on any of his pitches.
“He did a good job mixing up pitches,” Sox skipper Alex Cora said after the game. “His breaking ball was great, the fastball, whenever he wanted to, it was up there at 99.”
Sale even flashed the leather, catching a fly ball in foul territory for the first out in the sixth inning.
He said after the game it’s about being able to have fun while being out on the diamond. But did he think twice about letting Sandy Leon or Eduardo Nunez nab the out?
Of course he didn’t.
“I had my eye on the prize.”
Here are some other notes from Friday’s Red Sox-Royals game:
— Sale wasn’t the only Red Sox that reached a 100th career milestone.
Mookie Betts led off the game with a solo home run, his 22nd of the campaign and 100th of his career. He also was one of three players to homer in the victory.
The 25-year-old became just the fourth Red Sox player to record 100 career homers before turning 26, joining Tony Conigliaro, Jim Rice and Ted Williams.
“It’s definitely a milestone,” Betts said. “But have to turn the page, get ready for a World Series.”
— Tyler Thornburg made his long-awaited Red Sox debut in the seventh and gave up a run. After the game, Cora had nothing but high praise for the reliever.
“Velocity was good. Command was good. He was rushing a little bit, early, but that’s normal,” he said. “I mean, he hasn’t completed at this level in a while.
“He worked hard. I saw him playing catch the first day (of spring training) and I was like, ‘this is gonna happen.’ He was playing catch with conviction, he went through every step. We’re very proud of him. At the end of the day, the player has to be willing to work hard and believe in the process, and he did.”
Cora noted the righty “should” be available for Saturday’s game.
— J.D. Martinez hit his 27th home run of the season in the second inning, putting him three homers ahead of Los Angeles Angels’ Mike Trout for the Major League Baseball lead.
— Steve Pearce had a big night at the plate, going 3-for-5 with two RBIs while scoring a run of his own.
He’s enjoyed recent success since being acquired by Boston. In six games, Pearce has gone 7-for-his-last 18 with four doubles, two RBIs and three runs.
— Boston amassed 14 hits on the night, with each member of its starting nine accounting for at least one hit.
“All around a good offensive night,” Cora said. “We put some tough at-bats, two-strike homers, able to drive the ball over the place. They felt very comfortable at the plate today.”
Betts added:Â “We just put our foot on the gas and didn’t stop.”
— The Red Sox now are 49-15 when hitting a home run.
