The number of the day for two of the most important players on the Red Sox was 100.
The Red Sox beat the Royals, 10-5, on Friday night. Mookie Betts led off the game with his 100th career home run, and starter Chris Sale took it from there en route to career win No. 100.The symmetry was hard to miss, because both players have cemented their status not only as superstars, but as two sides of a similar coin.
Neither is particularly vocal, but their words carry weight. Both show up, do their work, and carry themselves with a swagger suggesting they know exactly how bad they are. And the Red Sox wouldn't be nearly the same team without either of them.
With the All-Star Game approaching, both players could end up starting for the American League. If the season ended today, Betts might be MVP and Sale could make a case for Cy Young.
On Friday, they took care of the Royals with more than a little help from their friends. DH J.D. Martinez saw Betts' 22nd home run and raised him his league-leading 27th, an opposite-field shot in the second off of starter Jason Hammel. Xander Bogaerts followed two batters later with home run No. 14 -- four more than last year's total -- and the rout was on.
Sale dominated as if protecting a 1-0 lead, limiting the Royals to five hits and a run in six innings and striking out 12. He's now 9-4 with a 2.36 ERA. He's on roughly the same pace of innings, batters faced, and pitchers thrown as this time last year, but Red Sox manager Alex Cora is determined to limit his workload wherever possible.
"It's always good when he can go six for us," Cora told reporters in Kansas City. "We take care of him, he goes about his business, and we move on. Whatever he can save right now is going to benefit him and us in the future."
Reliever Tyler Thornburg made his season debut, allowing a leadoff triple and RBI groundout around a couple of lineouts to Jackie Bradley Jr. in center during a one-run seventh. "I'm so proud of him," Cora said. "At the end of the day, the player has to be willing to work hard and believe in the process and he did and today was a great day for him."
