Saturday's start was a special one for Chris Sale, for obvious reasons.
But it wasn't quite No. 1 on his list of memorable appearances.
The Boston Red Sox ace has had a number of dandies and milestones across a big league career that has spanned north of a decade. But Saturday's 16-2 victory over the Baltimore marked his first Major League appearance in two years due to March 2020 Tommy John surgery.
And while everything that came with the start Saturday was emotional, it didn't quite surpass pitching in the 2018 World Series, in which he tossed the final out.
"(Saturday) was incredible," Sale said after the game over Zoom. "Nothing is going to beat pitching in the World Series, there will never be an energy like that. For today, everything that went into it, it's a probably a close second to that.
"The time that I got to spend with my teammates after (the game) was probably the most special of all."
Not a bad list.
Sale pitched five innings, allowing two runs on six hits with eight strikeouts and no walks. He is penciled in to start Friday in a series opener against the Texas Rangers.
