Boston Red Sox: Cleveland has been thorn in Chris Sale’s side

Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale has been just about invincible against nearly every team this season, with the notable exception of the Cleveland Indians.

Not much of anything has hindered Chris Sale this season. The dominant lefty has been every bit the ace the Boston Red Sox wanted when they acquired him from Chicago last offseason. However, one team has been able to land a pair of punches on the Cy Young contender – both within the past month.

The Cleveland Indians tagged Sale for seven runs (six earned) on seven hits and three walks in just three innings yesterday at Progressive Field. It was easily his shortest outing of the season, as he had logged no fewer than five frames in all 25 of his previous starts.

The second inning proved to be a minefield for Sale as the Tribe put up four runs, aided by a throwing error from Red Sox rookie third baseman Rafael Devers. Cleveland put up three more in the third, and Sale’s evening was unceremoniously cut short. The Indians won the game by a 13-6 score, salvaging a four-game series split.

It’s rare to see Sale have a genuinely bad start, but last night’s showing was a bit of déjà vu for the southpaw. Just over three weeks earlier he suffered another uncharacteristically poor defeat, also at the hands of Cleveland. On August 1 in Boston, Sale coughed up seven runs on eight hits and a walk over five innings. It was his worst performance of the year until yesterday’s.

In fact, the two shellings against the Indians are the only outings this season in which Sale allowed more than five runs. He’s surrendered three or fewer in 20 of the 26 times he’s taken the mound.

It would be a stretch to claim that the Red Sox should be concerned. But this might be a situation to keep in mind considering Boston and Cleveland could very well cross paths again in the postseason. Sale will be the Sox’ biggest weapon in October. They expect to win every time he starts. If the Indians could manage to get to him again in a potential playoff matchup, it could shift the entire balance of a series.

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There’s still over a month to go in the regular season, so such thoughts are hypothetical. Yet with the Astros taking somewhat of a step backward of late, it wouldn’t entirely be a shock to see the Red Sox and Tribe meeting for a chance to go the World Series.

If that happens, it will be interesting to see if Sale can figure them out. He’s traditionally had a bit more difficulty with Cleveland than other opponents; prior to 2017, he owned a 4.07 ERA in 27 appearances against the Tribe.

Of course, this year’s Indians have been heating up recently. They’ve won 10 of their last 14 to open up a 5.5-game lead in the AL Central. Does Cleveland truly have Sale’s number, or has he just caught them at the wrong time? Perhaps some of both.

Those hoping for a more exciting Cy Young race in the American League might welcome Sale’s August missteps. His five outings this month have raised his ERA from 2.37 to 2.88. Obviously that’s still a great number, but Corey Kluber now bests him in that category with a 2.65 mark.

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ESPN’s David Schoenfield wonders if the award is now a toss-up between the two of them. Sale certainly still has a very compelling case with a league-leading 14 wins, 2.08 FIP, 253 strikeouts in 178.1 innings and a 7.23 K/BB ratio.

Whether in the playoffs or Cy Young voting, it appears Cleveland might have something to say about just how memorable a year Sale has.