Boston — Chris Sale stopped at a Fenway Park locker on Saturday afternoon for about a minute. He has enough time to shake hands and thank the visitors for his happiness. He ran between the field and the weight room, slipped his new shirt into the frame of the reeds, and went out with a “SALE” tattoo between his shoulder blades.
“Work day,” he said with a laugh.
The seven-time All-Star Sale, which struck out Boston’s 2018 World Series victory, hasn’t done much work on the mound lately. Tommy John’s surgery has wiped out most of the last two seasons, with chest injuries killing more than half of 2022. He dumped a Class AAA Worcester digging tunnel into a trash can on a rehab mission last week, but paid damages and acted like a fool.
“Who is perfect?” Sale told reporters in Boston on Thursday’s dug out. “Give him a name. I want to wave his hand.”
The sale could have walked across the field and shook hands with the Yankees, who were as perfect as the baseball team. The Yankees were 61-24 before the Sunday night Series Finale with the Red Sox. This is a record of the start of 85 games where the team has only exceeded twice in the history of the franchise. These previous teams continued to dominate the World Series in 1939 and 1998.
The Yankees missed the sale over the weekend — he’ll be back on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays — and faced three rookie starters before Sunday. The Red Sox, which started newcomers shortly before the Yankees arrived, hadn’t started four newcomers in a row since September 1945. Ted Williams was waiting to retire from the Marines that month after helping to win World War II.
So yes, it’s been a while since the Red Sox was in this predicament. But their rotation was much more vulnerable. Injured veterans — Sale, Nathan Eovaldi (back), Rich Hill (knees), Michael Wacha (shoulders) — rarely durable, young starter Garrett Whitlock (waist) returns in rescue role I will come.
Consider that decline and the fact that the Red Sox lost all eight series against their American League East opponents this season before the Yankees came to town. You might expect to stumble towards the fifth and final finish since 2012. (investigate.)
Still after saturday 6-5 victory In 10 innings, the Red Sox held the top AL wildcard spot at 46-39.
“We worked hard to reach this point. In fact, I think only one team is playing outstanding baseball in the league, and we are playing them now,” said the manager. Alex Cora said. “The rest of us are in a similar situation. There are some teams that are getting hot and they are talking now, but looking at the rankings, I know the season doesn’t end today. — But if it’s over today, we’re in dance, so you see positive. “
The positive point is the attack that can still mash up by chasing only the Yankees in each match run of the AL team. The Red Sox lost Thursday and Friday, but trampled Gerrit Cole and Nester Cortez in nine innings and two-thirds innings with nine runs. On Saturday, they returned to defeat the Yankees blockade bullpen.
It was the first time the Yankees had lost seven innings in 49 games this season, and fans felt bold on the enemy’s territory. “MVP!” Cheers polluted the air when Aaron Judge doubled on the 10th to lead the Yankees. The Red Sox noticed.
“I was able to hear it today because the Yankees fans were chanting and chanting,” said outfielder Alex Verdugo, who won the match in a two-run single. “It was really noisy for the Yankees, wasn’t it? Boston felt overwhelmed by the Yankee fans aloud. It was one of them and for me it was: .’We need to get this back. This is our home. This is where we play. This is not their field. “
Verdugo drove former Yankees Rob Refsnyder (who hit .344 until Saturday) and rookie Jeter Downs, rolling the single to the right on his first major league hit in 10 rallies.He is the origin of the name yes Derek Jetter sent a message to Downs when he played his first game in June.
“He tweeted me and said,’Good luck, not against the Yankees,'” Downs said. “I can’t write any more stories.”
The Red Sox won Connor Wong, the catcher of Verdugo, Downs and Worcester, in a contract to send Mookie Betts to the Los Angeles Dodgers in February 2020. Looking around Fenway Stand or Back Bay Street, you still see a lot of nos. 50 jerseys, and they’re not for Saturday’s starter, Kutter Crawford.
Trading Betts will stab for a while, and lend the undercurrent of horror here about the future of other homemade stars. Shortstop Xander Bogaerts will be able to opt out of his contract this fall, and third baseman Rafael Devers will qualify as a free agent from next season onwards. The Red Sox recently cut salaries and has other infielder options: Second Baseman Trevor Story, who signed a six-year contract in March, and top prospect Marcelo Meyer, a low-class A shortstop.
“It’s not entirely up to me,” Devers said through an interpreter on Saturday when asked about a long-term contract with the Red Sox. “But I don’t know the other teams. I love this city, I love my teammates, I love my coaches. So, of course, I want to be here. But after all, it’s me. Not in my hands. “
Devers hit .327 with 19 home runs, leading the AL with a win that surpassed the exchange until Saturday. Baseball reference.. He made two connections from Cole on Friday — “I’m supposed to fail seven out of ten in this league,” said Cole, six career homers at Devers. “I don’t know what the deal is” — but Friday’s match left with a backache.
The absence of Devers on Saturday, coupled with the Yankees’ dominance and Boston’s depleted pitching, made the game seem like another lost cause. But the Red Sox wins and soon their ace, Sale, is back. They don’t catch the Yankees in the division, but they don’t disappear easily — and they knocked on the Yankees from the playoffs last fall.
“We are always confident about the Yankees,” Verdugo said. “This is just one of them, like last year’s wild card game, this year’s playoff game. We are confident about them. It’s a do-or-die game. When it is like that, we know that we bring our energy and we bring our game. “
Rivalry will take place in Bronx next weekend.
