A difficult first half continued for Chris Sale on Wednesday, with the lanky lefty struggling to put it all together again in Toronto.
Sale went 5.2 innings and gave up five runs on nine hits — including three homers — while walking two and striking out only five, another uninspiring start from the Red Sox’ nominal ace in a 5-3 road loss.
The big southpaw didn’t quite have his best stuff on Wednesday, occasionally flashing 96-97 with his fastball and getting the slider to bite from time to time, but was rarely consistent with his command or his ability to generate whiffs.
Throwing to an unfamiliar receiver, with Christian Vazquez’s hot bat too much to sacrifice for Sandy Leon, Sale struggled again throwing to Vazquez, with whom his ERA is almost double than when throwing to Leon.
Chris Sale has a 2.96 ERA throwing to Sandy Leon this season. Want a larger sample? It's 2.53 career.But sure, none of that matters. #RedSox https://t.co/cYVDGP5N09
— Bill Koch (@BillKoch25)
July 4, 2019 It’s difficult to blame Vazquez — Sale’s been especially ineffective over his last few starts, even more so than he has all season. In his last three starts, two against the Blue Jays split by an outing against the White Sox, he’s given up 13 earned runs in 16.2 innings, as his struggles aren’t limited to days he’s throwing to Vazquez.
Sale didn’t make that many major mistakes in Toronto but the ones he made were heavily punished, giving up a trio of homers — a solo job from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. along with a a pair of two-run bombs from Danny Jansen and Brandon Drury, the latter of which chased Sale with two outs in the sixth.
DJ playing our favourite hit -- #LetsGoBlueJays pic.twitter.com/FSnHo2Ie5U
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays)
July 4, 2019 It seemed like the seven-time All-Star had been dialing back his stuff, especially his fastball, early in starts during the first half of the season, but that wasn’t the case on Wednesday, as Sale was touching 96 and 97 in the first innings.
Chris Sale, Overpowering 97mph Fastball...and Sword. ⚔️-- pic.twitter.com/JACtdFmpHv
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja)
July 3, 2019 But the Blue Jays found a way to get to him anyways, as they did in June. Sale dominated Toronto for years, but nine innings against them this season, he’s sporting an 8.00 ERA and the Blue Jays are slashing 350/.386/.425 against him.
The Red Sox’ attempts to find some consistency after a rocky trip to London has already hit a hitch after two games, with even their number one struggling to find his footing halfway through the season, as Boston’s difficulties to get any momentum going continue.
With the loss, Sale's record dropped to 3-8, and his ERA climbed to 4.04.
