Chris Sale relishes return to Fenway Park in dominant start against Red Sox
"I spent seven years here and had some really good moments out there. I appreciate this place for what it is."
The last time Chris Sale took to the mound at Fenway Park, it was Sept. 22, 2023.
A little over four months later, the Red Sox southpaw was traded to the Atlanta Braves — closing out a seven-year run in Boston that had plenty of ups and downs.
But even though Sale donned a different jersey on Friday night at Fenway Park, Alex Cora admitted that the 36-year-old lefty is forever intertwined with the Red Sox — especially for his contributions during Boston’s World Series run in 2018.
“That slider to [Manny] Machado will be forever in my mind,” Cora said pregame of Sale recording the final out of the 2018 World Series in Los Angeles.
“Just a relentless guy that cares,” Cora added of his former player. “He cares about this place. He was here during the winter. He went to see the Patriots, he went to see the Celtics. He’s still got his place here. They love it here. Just happened that, at that point, we needed to do what we needed to do.”
For Sale, that same affinity for the Red Sox and Fenway Park endures — at least until first pitch.
“It’s like walking into your childhood home,” Sale said. “You just have a lot of memories that you’ve built, a lot of relationships that you still have and appreciate.
“Again, you just try to push all those to the wayside and then do your job. … Because the ceremony stops at pitch one. So no one’s giving in or giving up or thinking about anything other than winning and doing their job.”
Beyond that natural competitiveness, Sale had good reason to have extra motivation on the mound against his former team.
The Red Sox’s decision to move on from Sale in December 2023 — dealing him to the Braves in exchange for prospect Vaughn Grissom — was rooted in Boston’s skepticism in his durability.
After two standout seasons in Boston in 2017-18 (29-13, 2.56 ERA, 545 strikeouts in 372.1 innings), Sale struggled to find his groove due to a seemingly relentless run of bad luck on the injury front.
Over his final five seasons with the Red Sox, Sale only made 56 starts and logged 298.1 innings of work — missing the entire 2020 campaign while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Other freak accidents — including a 2022 campaign where he fractured a rib while throwing BP, broke his pinky off a line-drive comebacker, and then fractured his wrist in a bike-riding accident — put Sale behind the eight-ball countless times over.
When the time came to deal Sale, the Red Sox were ready to move on — and Sale was granted a clean slate.
“As a person, we went through a lot,” Cora said. Of course, ’18 towards the end, he posted. I don’t know how he did it, but he posted.”
It’s a move that has benefited Sale and the Braves tremendously. In his first season in Atlanta, he submitted the best season of his career — going 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA en route to the Cy Young Award.
After a slow start this season, Sale has once again regained his form as a legitimate ace — punctuated by another dominant showing against his former team on Friday.
Sale was sharp in Atlanta’s eventual 4-2 win over to the Red Sox, allowing five hits and one earned run over seven innings of work — striking out eight and walking two batters while out-dueling Boston’s new ace, Garrett Crochet.
“It was a good one,” Sale said of the victory. “Good to get the first win of a road trip. I know firsthand this isn’t exactly an easy place to come into and win, so to get off on the right foot is big.
This is not the first time that Sale has faced off against his former team since getting dealt to Atlanta, as he racked up 10 strikeouts over six innings in a 5-0 win at Truist Park in 2024.
Sale has now posted a 1.72 ERA over his last five starts, and is 2-0 with a 0.69 ERA in his two outings against the Red Sox since that December 2023 trade.
Even with his recent track record of twisting the knife against his former team, Sale stressed postgame that he still cherished every chance to return to Fenway Park.
“I love it here,” Sale said. “I think there’s no secret there. I’ve always enjoyed it — even when I was with Chicago, coming here and playing. I spent seven years here and had some really good moments out there. I appreciate this place for what it is.”
Cora admitted that his sentiment shifts when Sale is facing off against the Red Sox, but noted that he still “roots” for Sale — along with several other stalwarts from that 2018 club, including Mookie Betts, Xander Bogaerts, Christian Vazquez, and Nathan Eovaldi.
“They watch what we’re doing,” Cora said. “They care about me, which is the most important thing to me. They saw me on top of the world. They saw me on my knee when I got suspended. They were still there for me. I appreciate that.”
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