FORT MYERS, Fla. -- There is a reason the Red Sox gave up four of their top prospects to acquire Chris Sale in the offseason. And the left-hander showed a glimpse of that Saturday against the Rays.
Sale tossed four scoreless innings, allowing one hit with one walk and five strikeouts in the Red Sox's 2-1 victory at JetBlue Park. He threw 56 pitches, 42 for strikes.
Working with catcher Sandy Leon, Sale threw first-pitch strikes to all but one of the 14 batters he faced. The aberration was Kevin Kiermaier in the third inning, but Sale came back to strike out the Rays center fielder to end the inning.