I’m calling it now: Chris Sale is going to surpass Pedro Martinez for most 10+ K games in a season this year. Pedro’s 1999 season is the current record-holder, with nineteen 10+ K games. It’s only the first week of August, and Sale got his fifteenth game tonight to tie Pedro’s 2000 record.
With his dominating fastball and slider, Sale has proven to be beyond consistent in his command of the ball. With a slim lead of 1-0 through 8 full innings, Sale managed to hold Tampa Bay down with thirteen K’s and only two hits over 113 pitches. The Rays, in particular, have floundered against Sale this season; in three starts, he had twelve K’s, and tonight, thirteen.
Considering the Red Sox’s proclivity for overpaying players who come to Boston and underperform (Panda, Crawford, Price, to name a few), Sale has been – knock on wood – a beyond impressive addition to the team. He’s the undisputed king of the pitchers, and it’s a weird, but welcome change to have a strong starting pitcher on the Red Sox for the first time in what feels like years.
Other highlights:
- Eduardo Nuñez led off with a double and went 3-5
- Dustin Pedroia returned to the lineup, filling in for Hanley at DH and putting the first run on the board
- Xander Bogaerts extended his hitting streak to 8 games
- Rafael Devers continues to be a bomb lil baby, his RBI driving in Pedroia for a 1-0 lead
- Sox picked up their 7th straight win, extending their 1st place lead
*This article was originally posted on WTP Sports