Chris Sale called his season-opening start the most ’embarrassed that I’ve ever been on a baseball field’
Sale allowed seven runs in three innings to the Orioles on Saturday.
Chris Sale’s first start at Fenway Park in 18 months didn’t go well.
The Red Sox lefty seven runs on seven hits, two walks, six strikeouts, and three home runs in three innings in what ended up being a 9-8 win over the Orioles on Saturday.
But Sale’s outing put the Red Sox in a 7-1 hole early. After striking out the game’s leadoff hitter, he allowed a single to Adley Rutschman before Ryan Mountcastle hit a 422-foot homer to make it 2-0. Two batters later, Austin Hays took Sale yard by hitting his fastball 430 feet to center field.
Following a scoreless second inning, Sale might have been the victim of some bad luck to open the third inning. He gave up back-to-back infield hits, but didn’t do enough to get himself out of the jam right away. Sale walked the ensuing hitter, which allowed Baltimore to score a run on a fielder’s choice before Cedric Mullins hit a three-run home run.
Sale’s day ended at the end of the third, and he couldn’t have felt any worse about his performance.
“I left them completely out to dry tonight,” Sale told reporters. “That was about as embarrassed that I’ve ever been on a baseball field. … I was out there throwing batting practice.”
Sale wasn’t sure if he was tipping his pitches, saying there wasn’t anything he was “aware of.” But he continued to rip his own performance when asked about the possibility that he tipped his pitches.
“I don’t know if there was anything of that nature,” Sale said. “Sometimes you just suck. And it’s unfortunate. I’ve waited a while to pitch here at Fenway, and to go out there and do that was embarrassing.”
To make matters worse for Sale, it’s the first time he’s had a start this early in the season since 2019. His Opening Day start in 2019 against the Mariners was actually the last time he allowed seven runs in just three innings.
The fact that Sale had four exhibition outings to prepare for his return to the rotation is what made Saturday’s game a tougher pill to swallow.
“This one I don’t have any excuse for,” Sale said. “I had a normal spring training. Can’t blame it on that. I’m not hurt. Nothing coming into it. I just sucked today. Sometimes you go out and try hard and do good, and sometimes you go out and try hard and suck. That was unfortunately what happened.”
Despite Sale’s rough outing, he did get some compliments from members of the Red Sox. Manager Alex Cora said it was just “damn good” to have Sale pitching while catcher Reese McGuire added that Sale’s “stuff is electric right now.”
It’s understandable why both might feel that way. Following a solid spring, Sale showed some positives by striking out six Orioles hitters, getting Anthony Santander to whiff at two 96 mph fastballs in the first inning while also recording strikeouts with his slider, sinker, and changeup.
Still, Sale harped on the seven hits and two walks that allowed the Orioles to score seven runs so quickly that forced the Red Sox to make a big comeback to win.
“We all played good except for one guy,” Sale said. “Obviously I’ve got a lot of work to do but, as a whole, taking this game was big-time.”
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