Boston Red Sox: Chris Sale shows Royals whose king of the mound
Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale was near perfect hurling a complete-game shutout against the Kansas City Royals.
If the Boston Red Sox are going to become the team they were a year ago and give the New York Yankees a battle for AL East supremacy, they need the Chris Sale who dominated the mound Wednesday night against the Kansas City Royals.
In a complete-game shutout, Sale was hotter than the weather in the team’s 8-0 victory at Kauffman Stadium.
Dominant, powerful, outstanding and immaculate were just a few words to describe the 12-strikeout performance for Red Sox fans. And speaking of immaculate, Chris Sale had himself an immaculate inning in the eighth by throwing nine pitches for nine strikes to cap off a night in which he baffled and overpowered Royals batters.
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It wasn’t even fair as Sale had everything working in tossing a three-hitter which accounted for just the third shutout of his career. It was also nice that the Red Sox ace got some nice run support from his offense, an abundance of runs that made that night go easily for Sale who had his good stuff flowing.
"“I felt like I was able to throw my changeup for a strike a little bit better,” Sale said following the game, via MLB.com. “My slider was as good as it has been. As the game went on, I gained momentum and felt stronger.”"
Now just 2-7 on the season, the part to feel good about in Chris Sale’s performance on Wednesday night was how he got stronger as the game went along. Throwing just 102 pitches in the complete game, the Boston Red Sox lefty matched efficiency with velocity, power and location to showcase a man who is certainly back to form.
The finisher
The Kansas City Royals lineup is nothing to fear, but what Chris Sale had going could’ve and would’ve baffled any Major League lineup.
Most importantly, he felt good about himself in his ability to go the distance and deliver for his team.
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"“Anytime you can finish a game, that’s what we sign up for,” Sale said. “[Catcher] Sandy [Leon] can read my mind, it seems. He put down all the right fingers and I just followed his lead.”"
The dominance Sale delivered on Wednesday night is also what the Boston Red Sox signed up long-term for. It’s great to see and is key the team successfully defending their World Series championship by making another run when the run really starts following the MLB All-star break.