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In his roughly 1 1/2 years in Boston,
Chris Sale has been everything that was advertised. Since getting some extra days rest earlier this season, he has amped up his 4-seam fastball to
averaging 98 MPH. That fact, in conjunction with his deadly slider, makes him almost un-hittable when he is fully "on". Suffice it to say that—
today—he was fully "on"
plus. The lanky lefty struck out 13 Mariners, gave up just four hits and hurled seven shutout innings in
Boston's 5-0 win (their 20th series finale win of 2018). It was vintage Sale–and he finally got some run support to make this a bit of a "rocking chair" seventh win for the port-sider. As soon as Boston broke through with three runs in the fifth, it was "Katy-bar-the-door" for Seattle.
Seventy-one of Sale's ninety-three pitches went for strikes. The Red Sox offense was paced by clutch hits from:
Rafael Devers (1-3, RBI) and
Mitch Moreland (1-4, HR, 2 RBIs).
Jackie Bradley, Jr. had a needed 3-3 game—with his hard hit balls finally starting to fall in.
Sandy Leon and
Mookie Betts also chipped in with RBIs. The win (Boston's 52nd on the year) coupled with a 7-6, extra-inning loss by
The Evil Ones vaulted the Red Sox back into a first-place tie.
