Better Luck Next Time, Chris Sale
Poor Chris Sale
It’s bad enough that Chris Sale’s breaking pitches are sweeping across home plate on a hittable plane, affording batters juicy looks at pitches that once bewitched them, but then batters smack the ball straight at a Boston defender and the ball is misplayed. This intermittent inability to execute fundamental plays at key moments penalized the Red Sox in the second inning of Sunday’s loss against Tampa Bay.
Sale had already served up a two-run homer on his first pitch, a 92-mph, four-seam fastball, to Daniel Robertson in the first inning. The ball spun into Robertson’s wheelhouse and bang, he belted it over the Green Monster in left-center and it was 2-0 Tampa Bay.
So, the runs that scored in the second inning were unnecessary, gifts in a way, not the kind of baseball winning teams play. Boston clearly looked anemic, lost, a step slow, frustrated and in the wrong place when it mattered most.
Then Rafael Devers Fumbled a Grounder
In that second inning, the pained look on Rafael Devers’ face after he fumbled Willy Adames’ routine grounder to third base for his eighth error of the season told a story of disgust and disappointment.
Is it possible that Boston will allow Devers to make 50 errors at third base this season? He’s on track for 50 right now.
The error, rather than leading to an inning-ending double play around the horn, put runners at first and second with one out. The next Ray to bat, third baseman Christian Arroyo, struck out swinging for the second out of the inning, and there was hope Boston might escape further damage. But Tampa Bay had an extra out to play with, always a dangerous gift to hand an opponent.
Yandy Diaz …
… strolled to the plate for the second time in two innings. His first time up he saw five pitches and cracked an 84 mph change-up off the base of the wall 387 feet from home plate for a double. And the Rays were off and running.
Yandy Diaz is one of the Rays’ new acquisitions this offseason. He came over from the Cleveland Indians in a three-team trade that saw Tampa Bay move Jake Bauers to Cleveland, Edwin Encarnacion leave Cleveland for Seattle, and Carlos Santana pack his bags, leave Seattle, and head back to Cleveland, where he had excelled for many seasons.
Diaz is a 27-year-old Cuban who primarily plays third base, but was at first base in this game. Defensive versatility was one of the reasons the Rays traded for him. This second time around, Diaz belted a 79 mph slider, the third pitch Chris Sale threw him.
A foreboding line drive soared into the Boston night until it caromed off the 420 sign in right center, the deepest part of Fenway. The ball just eluded the glove of the leaping, flailing, Jackie Bradley, Jr. who banged into the wall before retrieving the ball that rolled over to the Red Sox bullpen. With two outs the runners took off with contact and scored easily, making it a 4-0 game.
The drive could have been caught. Jackie Bradley, Jr. was right there, but mistimed his leap. Perhaps he was too mindful of the wall behind him and so did not take the extra step or two needed to reach the ball. It was not an error, but a costly mistake, nonetheless.
Pitching Is Still So Key
With Tyler Glasnow on the mound, Tampa Bay shut down the Red Sox offense, limiting them to three baserunners in scoring position, forcing Boston to take an oh-fer each time they tried to drive the run in. As in command as Glasnow looks this season is how clueless Glasnow looked last season with the Pittsburgh Pirates. His Sunday performance was masterful and must have instilled a sense of confidence in the Rays and reminded them of their heady days when James Shields and David Price fronted an excellent Tampa Bay rotation. Now, Tampa Bay can send two top pitchers to the mound again, Glasnow and Blake Snell. This makes them even more dangerous should they reach the postseason.
Meanwhile, Chris Sale settled down, kept Boston on the edge of the game, allowing no more runs the rest of the way. He pitched seven innings, struck out eight, walked three, and allowed only one more hit after the second inning, four in total. But the damage had already been done. And the two late Boston runs were too few to make a difference.
Boston fell to 11-17, six under .500. Their lowest number of games under .500, 7.5 games behind Tampa Bay.
And April had not come to a close yet. Oh, how they must wish to see the calendar change. And Sale’s fortunes. Not only is Chris Sale 0-6 this season, but Boston shares the same record in his six starts. And the pattern has been a similar one. He pitches poorly initially, allows a home run, puts Boston in a hole, and the Sox cannot find a way back to win the game. Sunday, they went meekly.
These Red Sox are frustrating their fans. It’s unusual to see Fenway Park so quiescent and orderly. Then again, Boston fans still harbor hopes this was and will be a championship team again.
The big question: What does Dave Dombroski plan to do about it?
Or is there anything he can do? Time will tell.
