You Can Probably Guess How Chris Sale Felt About Regular-Season Finale

Chris Sale had a brief outing on Sunday in what was pretty much a must-win game for the Boston Red Sox, who needed to beat the Washington Nationals in Game 162 to avoid a play-in game to get to the postseason.

Sale lasted just 2 1/3 innings against the Nationals, and while he recorded every out on strikeouts (seven), he did walk in a run to end his start prematurely.

All of that is water under the bridge now that Boston got past the Nationals and the New York Yankees in the Wild Card Game. After all, Boston earned a trip to the Tampa Bay Rays in the American League Division Series, right?

Well, Sale clearly hasn’t forgot. And he didn’t mince words about how he was feeling regarding said outing.

“I did absolutely nothing to help our team win (Sunday),” Sale said, via MassLive’s Chris Cotillo. “I put us in a horrendous spot.”

Hirokazu Sawamura, who has yet to make the postseason roster, bailed the Red Sox out with 1 2/3 innings of work. He was followed by an inning apiece from six other pitchers, including starters Eduardo Rodriguez and Nick Pivetta, who earned the win and the save, respectively.

Sale wanted another chance in the Wild Card Game, as Red Sox manager Alex Cora told reporters Monday that the ace asked if he could appear against the Yankees. While that didn’t happen, Sale is slated to get the start in another high-leverage situation — Game 2 of the ALDS against the Rays.

Eduardo Rodriguez gets the ball for Game 1, which is Thursday at 8:07 p.m. ET.