Chris Sale strikes out 11: ‘This is what we’ve been working for, for nights like tonight’
Red Sox lefty Chris Sale made his best start of the 2023 season punching out 11 batters over six innings of work.
The tall left-hander looked like his old vintage-self by dominating the Twins lineup.
Opposing hitters have feasted on Sale to begin the season. He pitched a dud on Opening Day against the Orioles yielding seven runs in three innings. The Rays ate up Sale driving in five runs on him in four innings.
Sale’s 11 strikeouts was his highest total since striking out 12 against Cleveland on Aug. 13, 2019.
“He was great,” Sox manager Alex Cora said of Sale following the game. “That’s a good lineup, too.”
Entering Tuesday night’s contest, opponents crushed Sale’s fastball, hitting .600 against his heater. The Twins couldn’t catch up to it during his start, drawing 19 swings and nine whiffs.
“It’s who I expect to be. It’s who I need to be,” Sale said. “It hasn’t been fun going out there throwing batting practice, that’s for sure. And I know who I need to be for this team and what that’s going to take you know, I can’t be who I was I got I got to be who I was tonight, and I got to continue to build off of that.”
Sale threw 94 pitches, 63 for strikes, giving up three hits, one run and walking two batters.
The veteran controlled the Twins lineup but allowed his only run when on a Carlos Correa sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.
Overall, Sale was his old self for the first time in a long time. “This is what we’ve been working for, for nights like tonight,” said Sale.
Follow Chris on Twitter @ChrisHenrique
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