It had become the norm to send Chris Sale to the mound for at least 110 pitches, so there was a sense of surprise when Red Sox manager John Farrell asked the starter for the ball in the seventh inning tonight at Fenway Park.
Sale had thrown the ball at least 110 times in five straight starts, bailing out the team’s middling offense and overworked bullpen like it was part of his job description.
This time, it was the other way around.
Sale was dominant over 61⁄3 innings, but with the tying run on second and go-ahead run on first, Heath Hembree relieved him and cleaned up Sale’s emerging mess, saving the lefty and earning him his 10th win of the season.