Red Sox ace Chris Sale pitched an absolute gem against the Colorado Rockies, becoming the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out 17 batters in 7 innings.
Despite an outstanding performance by ace Chris Sale, the Colorado Rockies managed to come back against the Boston Red Sox bullpen to pick up a 5-4 win in 11 innings.
Sale was fantastic on the mound as he only gave up three hits, one of which was a mistake to Nolan Arenado. Arenado hit the pitch for a home run in the 7th inning with a runner on, to pull them within one run after Boston was up 3-0.
Charlie Blackmon also homered in the 8th inning to extend his hitting streak to 11 games.
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Chris Sale wasn’t the only one dealing as the Red Sox pitching staff struck out 24 batters, tying their franchise record for strikeouts in a game.
Every single Colorado Rockies batter struck out at least once in the game at Fenway while 5 different batters in the lineup struck out 3 times. Combined with Boston striking out 10 times, this game had 34 total strikeouts.
Sale’s night was historic for several reasons according to ESPN:
First, joining Dwight Gooden in any type of category is a good thing. Gooden was the gold standard every pitcher looked up to in the 1980s and 1990s.
Chris Sale struck out 17 batters tonight. He struck out 14 in his last start. He didn't walk a batter in either game.
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) May 15, 2019
Sale is just the 2nd pitcher in Modern MLB History to strike out 30+ batters and walk none over a 2-start span, joining Dwight Gooden in 1984. h/t @EliasSports
Boston’s slow start this year was attributed to several of their key players getting off to slow starts, one of whom was Chris Sale. Right now he is sitting at 1-5 with an ERA of 4.25 and 73 strikeouts.
To put that in perspective he is 104-67 with a career ERA of 2.93 so he will most definitely continue to improve. The proof is in his starts so far this month.
In three May starts he is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA and 41 strikeouts. This is the Chris Sale the Red Sox need as they continue to shake off the so-called ‘World Series hangover’ and stay in the hunt for the AL East crown.