After missing the Yankees and Blue Jays series due to shoulder inflammation that terrified the hell out of Red Sox Nation, Chris Sale made a triumphant return to the rotation today.
The Orioles were the equivalent of a rehab assignment for Sale, but it turned out to be one of his most masterful, efficient appearances of the season. Sale struck out 12 batters over five innings, with no walks, giving up just one hit; the extra rest seems to have agreed with him
Sale’s ERA is now a superb 1.97, and it only took one appearance to put him back on top of the AL Strikeout leaderboard. Over 44 innings in his last 7 starts, he’s allowed just one run, he’s struck out 79 batters, and his ERA is .20. No, that wasn’t a typo.
The team has won 10 of their last 11 without him, but we all know the Red Sox are even more formidable with this healthy beast. And with a weak bullpen, our rotation needs to be all the more powerful.
Photo: Red Sox Twitter
