Boston Red Sox fans have been eagerly awaiting for Chris Sale to return to a Major League Baseball mound, and it seems as though they weren't the only ones.
As the dust settled from Sale's superb return to the mound -- where he went five scoreless inning, striking out five and allowing just three hits -- the 33-year-old reflected on his journey back from injury, including a special moment that was shared between he and longtime catcher Christian Vázquez.
"Before I warmed up today (Vázquez) came up. You know, I'm getting ready to throw to him and he's walking toward me. I'm like 'what do we got?' And he just said something that meant a lot to me," Sale said, as seen on NESN's postgame coverage. "I was really able to kind of separate myself in that moment and appreciate that. What he said meant a lot, and I just carried that throughout the game because it was important to me."
While Sale seemed comfortable leaving those words between the battery mates, Vázquez shared what he said to reporters following the game.
"I told him it was a special day for the organization and for us to have him on the mound again," Vázquez said, as transcribed by Ian Browne of MLB.com. "It means a lot for us to see him back."
While Boston wasn't able to get the win for their ace, his return did mark what the franchise hopes to be a shift as they move toward the second half of the season. Garrett Whitlock and Nathan Eovaldi are expected to follow Sale back to the active roster from the injured list, helping out a pitching staff that has had a rocky start to July.
If the same results follow Whitlock and Eovaldi as they did Sale, the Red Sox are in for a solid boost headed into and out of the MLB All-Star break.
