Chris Sale Ripped The Royals' Spinal Column Out Through Their Throat And Shoved It Up Their Ass In A Complete Game Shutout
Oh, boo hoo! It was against the Royals, Jared! Boo hoo! Shut the fuck up. Coming into play on Wednesday night, for as bad as they are this season, the Royals had only been shut out twice all year. Nine innings, three hits, 12 strikeouts, zero runs, and his second immaculate inning of the season. Read it and weep.
The craziest part of Sale’s night was the fact that he said he felt better in this start than he did in the one where he struck out 17 Rockies. Of course, that game wasn’t a shutout and the Red Sox somehow lost, but still. And again, as I’ve pointed out in the past, Sale immediately jumped at the opportunity to credit Sandy Leon for his work behind the plate. The lefty spoke about how Leon just put down the fingers and Sale obeyed with the utmost confidence.
When asked to speak about his performance, Sale talked about how important it was to him to give the bullpen a night off, and how they’ve been working their asses off all year. I mean, Sale has been in Boston for parts of three seasons, but I’ve just gotta say that he’s been everything the Red Sox had hoped he would be and more. Obviously from a talent and performance standpoint, but even more so from a character standpoint. It’s damn impressive. All incoming superstars from this point forward should study how Sale has handled his time in Boston. That’s how it’s done.
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More on Sale — this was his seventh start with at least 10 strikeouts in his last nine starts. Over that span, he’s struck out 96 fucking batters in 59.1 innings. The next closest to him is Max Scherzer with 73 strikeouts AKA nobody else has been remotely close. Sale’s 14.56 strikeouts per nine innings obviously also leads the majors over that span. The best K/9 that Pedro Martinez posted in his career was in 1999 (13.2). Obviously comparing apples to oranges there. Just a little excited is all.
Offensively, it was another blowout. Had it in the blog before the game that this was going to be a bloodbath. Not exactly going out on a limb there, but the Red Sox hung another eight spot on a team that had no business sharing the same field as one of the best offenses in the game. Rafael Devers continues to be one of the best hitters in baseball, hitting a homer and a double. Since April 25, Devers leads the American League with a .344 batting average, and his .995 OPS trails only Joey Gallo, Gary Sanchez and Mike Trout. Oh, and his defense has been tremendous lately, so.
Andrew Benintendi and Brock Holt each had three hits in this one, as Jackie Bradley Jr. stroked a bases loaded, three-run double to break it open. The haters laugh when I say I told you not to let Jackie Bradley get hot, citing his sub-.200 batting average, but over his last 14 games, he’s hitting .318 with a 1.082 OPS. I would say that it’s too late, because it is. Bradley is hot. Now youse can’t leave.
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Since April 24, the Red Sox lead the American League with a .280 batting average and trail only the Minnesota Twins with an .843 OPS. Their 6.27 runs per game trail only the Colorado Rockies for the best mark in the majors, and their .360 on-base percentage is tops in the bigs. You must be thinking, well, what about the pitching? That must suck, no? Over that same span of 37 games, the Red Sox have the fifth best team ERA in the majors (3.59), the third best WHIP (1.13) and K/9 (9.93). Their 23-14 record is also the fifth best in the majors over that span, just behind the Yankees at 25-12.
So, it really has just been that slow start that has them where they are right now. But with numbers that great, there has to be something more to it, no? Well, yeah. Stating the obvious, the Red Sox need a goddamn closer. Boston’s ERA in the ninth inning over this stretch of games has been 5.34, the 25th worst in the majors. You fix your ninth inning problems and boom. You’ve fixed the Red Sox. You’re welcome, Dave.
In the series finale, it’ll be Ryan Weber versus Danny Duffy. Weber has been good at times and bad at times. He’s not working with a ton of velocity, so when he misses his spots, bad things happen like in his last outing against the Indians when he got tagged for seven earned runs. For what it’s worth, he had a 1.29 ERA in 14 innings prior to that. And it’s the Royals, so. Duffy gave up six earned runs to the Rangers in 5.1 innings his last time out, so he’s not exactly coming in red hot, either. Sweep the leg. Show no mercy.
The Red Sox have also picked up three games in the standings in their last three games. I told you before the game on Sunday night. Don’t let them win tonight. Now look what you did. Can you hear the footsteps? Six and a half back. Not even at the All Star break yet. Tick tock.
Final score: Red Sox 8, Royals 0