KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Chris Sale had just shut down one of the hottest teams in baseball, helping the banged-up Boston Red Sox take over sole possession of first place in the AL East for the first time all season.
And he looked as if he wanted to punch a wall.
Sale was two outs shy of his second consecutive complete game when Boston manager John Farrell trundled to the mound Tuesday night. But the left-hander’s pitch count had already reached 110 on the way to an 8-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals, so Farrell’s decision to summon a reliever was relatively easy.