He doesn’t have wins to show for them, but Chris Sale was at his best in his last two starts.
The veteran southpaw, by and large, overpowered the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night, striking out 17 (!) over seven innings in which he allowed two runs on three hits. The gem came on the heels of a terrific eight-inning outing against the Baltimore Orioles last Wednesday when Sale punched out 14 with only one run allowed.
Although Tuesday ended in frustration for Sale and the Boston Red Sox, altering the Major League Baseball record book isn’t the worst consolation prize for the left-hander.
Chris Sale is the first pitcher ever to strike out 14+ batters, walk none, and allow 3 or fewer hits in consecutive starts. The only other pitcher with 14+ strikeouts and 0 walks in consecutive starts (regardless of hits allowed) is Dwight Gooden (Sept. 12 & 17, 1984).
— J.P. Long (@SoxNotes) May 15, 2019
It’s been an impressive turnaround for Sale, who went 0-4 in April with a 4.67 ERA. May has been a much different story thus far, as he currently owns a 1.29 ERA through three starts (21 total innings) on the month.
Boston will look to get back in the win column Wednesday night when it wraps up its two-game interleague series with Colorado at Fenway Park.
