Chris Sale only has been with the Red Sox for three seasons, but his Boston tenure already is chock full of great moments.
Monday marks the ace’s 31st birthday, and in celebration, we decided it was an apt time to look back on some of the southpaw’s greatest moments with the Red Sox.
Here are the top five.
Hitting in the eighth inning, Sale ropes a key double vs. Phillies
While there is no shortage of iconic pitches and strikeouts, Sale’s résumé wouldn’t be complete without some offensive recognition.
In a June 2017 game against the Philadelphia Phillies, Sale was rolling through seven innings, so then-manager John Farrell sent him out to hit in the top of the eighth inning with the game tied at zero.
He responded by smacking a double to the wall in left field.
Sale ultimately would get stranded to end the inning, as Mookie Betts would line out, Dustin Pedroia would strike out and Xander Bogaerts would pop out.
The lefty returned for the eighth and would give up a run, the game’s only run, in that frame. Still, he would finish his night having allowed just the one run on four hits with 10 strikeouts over eight innings.
Sale reaches 300-strikeout mark in 2017 by punching out 13 Orioles
Sale really did make a tremendous first impression in Boston.
In his debut season with the Sox, Sale hit the exceedingly rare mark of 300-plus strikeouts, punching out a league-leading 308 in 2017.
Appropriately, he reached the milestone with a 13-strikeout performance in his penultimate regular-season start, a 9-0 pummeling of the Baltimore Orioles on Sept. 20.
He fooled Ryan Flaherty for No. 300.
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Sale throws two immaculate innings less than a month apart
Though last season was Sale’s worst in a Red Sox uniform, it was not completely void of good moments.
On May 8, 2019, Sale pitched an immaculate seventh inning in a narrow 2-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles. He retired Hanser Alberto, Dwight Smith Jr., Stevie Wilkerson in order.
One immaculate inning is impressive enough.
Sale did it twice in 2019, though, and less than a month apart.
The second time around, it was in the eighth inning of a June 5 game against the Kansas City Royals, with Sale sitting down Kelvin Gutierrez, Nicky Lopez and Martin Maldonado.
Sale spun a complete game, three-hit shutout against the Royals in the 8-0 victory.
Sale strikes out 17 in just seven innings
Ho hum, just 17 strikeouts in seven innings.
There was understandable concern with Sale at the beginning of the 2019 season. Over his first eight starts, he was 1-5 with a 4.50 ERA, and his velocity was down from what it typically sat at.
But it was in that eighth start he threw the immaculate inning against the O’s, and in his ninth outing of the year, he completely worked over the Colorado Rockies.
In a record-breaking performance, Sale punched out a whopping 17 Rockies in seven innings of work, ultimately allowing two runs on three hits with no walks.
However, the Red Sox bullpen stumbled and the offense neglected to show up when it mattered, resulting in a 5-4 loss. But it nevertheless was one of Sale’s best individual performances with Boston.
Striking out Manny Machado to win 2018 World Series
This one is a no-brainer.
After stumbling in his Game 1 start against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Sale was brought in to close out Game 5 of the World Series in what was his only other appearance of the 2018 Fall Classic.
Sale did his job with little issue.
He struck out the side, capping off the inning, and season, by punching out a guy with whom he has a history in Manny Machado.
It’ll be a while before we see Sale back in action. Even with the Major League Baseball season on pause due to the coronavirus pandemic, Sale is set to undergo Tommy John surgery. He’ll miss all of the 2020 campaign and at least the beginning of 2021.
