One day after Chris Sale declared that he faced no physical limitations in his start against the Astros in Game 1 of the American League Championship Series, the Red Sox ace didn’t back the claim in a four-inning start against the Astros. Though he gave up just two runs on one hit, the lefthander showed both significantly reduced stuff and a startling loss of the strike zone in a highly uncharacteristic outing.
Sale worked around a leadoff walk to George Springer to pitch a scoreless first inning, but after two quick outs to open the second, the quality of his pitches eroded rapidly.