At the very least, Chris Sale knows what to say when things don’t go well.
Unfortunately for the Boston Red Sox ace, there’s been no shortage of opportunities to prove that point this season, and the latest came late Sunday night after Sale struggled through 5 1/3 mediocre innings in the Red Sox’s 9-6 loss to the New York Yankees.
The Red Sox had a chance to complete a potentially season-turning sweep against their division rivals, but Sale’s ineffective evening kept that from happening. Sale left in the sixth inning, having allowed six runs — the sixth time this season he’s allowed at least five runs in a start.
Had Sale pitched better, the Red Sox would have had a golden chance to sweep away the Bombers.
“Without me, we have a pretty good chance to win this game,” Sale told reporters, per The Athletic. “That’s the toughest part. As hard as we’ve been playing, as well as we’ve been playing as a whole, top to bottom, our lineup, our starting pitching, our bullpen, everyone has been doing really well and living up to what they need to do.”
“To come out here and just be flat-out terrible, that’s tough. We had a chance to sweep a four-game set against the team that’s in front of us and we don’t have a whole bunch of games left. It’s time to go.”
There was growing optimism Sale had turned the corner. The left-hander had allowed just two runs in his previous two starts, striking out 22 batters. But spotty command — three walks — and a pair of home runs cost him a chance at keeping the good thing going.
The Red Sox have done a pretty good job of staying alive despite not playing their best baseball all season. But if they’re going to get right, Sale needs to at least start resembling his All-Star self on a more consistent basis.
“Up to this point it really has been a grind,” Sale added Sunday. “I know what I’ve done in the past, I know who I’ve been and what I can do. Now is not the time to start dragging or hanging our head or anything like that because it’s only going to get worse.”
If it gets better, the Red Sox should have enough talent to contend for the World Series. If it somehow gets worse, however, it will be a lost season for Sale and the defending champions.
