The Boston Red Sox are taking care of business against the Kansas City Royals.
Boston took an 8-0 win Wednesday night, setting up a chance to sweep the three-game series. But this one was all about Chris Sale.
The lefty ace was nothing short of spectacular, tossing his first complete game shutout of the season while striking out 12 and walking none. He needed just 102 pitches to set the Royals down.
Sale allowed just three hits and did not allow a base runner to advance past first base.
But his most impressive moment came in the eighth inning, when Sale struck out the side on nine pitches. It was his second immaculate inning of the season. He last did it on May 8 against the Baltimore Orioles.
And after the game, Sale revealed he had a little extra motivation heading out to the mound in the eighth.
“After the seventh, (Alex Cora) came up to me and asked me how I was doing,” Sale told NESN’s Guerin Austin, as seen on NESN’s postgame coverage. “(He) said obviously we have a bullpen game tomorrow. He’s like ‘Hey man, I’d really like to get you through this eighth inning.’ And I told him ‘I’ll finish this thing.’ He’s like, let’s see how we’re doing after the eighth inning and so I went out there and had a little motivation for the eighth inning and ended up going on to finish it.”
The immaculate inning also made a bit of history.
Of 102 pitches, Sale tossed 73 strikes, and noted his cohesion with Sandy Leon behind the dish.
“Just the command. Felt like I was throwing a lot of strikes,” Sale said. “Sandy (Leon) was working his butt off back there I think he was putting stuff down and I just felt in a really good rhythm with him, working really well together tonight. He got me through it.”
Here are some other notes from Tuesday’s Red Sox-Royals game:
— With the magnificent start, Sale’s ERA now is 3.84, the first time it has dipped below 4.00 all season.
The complete game shutout was his first since 2016.
— Brock Holt has been hot since returning from the injured list.
The utilityman has hit safely in each of his last seven games and is 11-for-25 during that stretch. He went 3-for-5 Wednesday night.
— Alex Cora’s decision to swap Mookie Betts and Andrew Benintendi in the lineup paid off early in this one.
Betts drew a leadoff walk then moved up to third after a Benintendi base knock and ended up scoring the game’s first run.
Benintendi has settled back into the No. 2 spot in the Red Sox lineup. The left fielder had three hits Tuesday night. He is 7-for-18 over his last five games.
— Rafael Devers continues to mash.
The third baseman had two hits to earn his 23rd multi-hit game of the season. He also clubbed his ninth home run of the season and drove in three runs.
He also wasn’t bad with the leather.
