Chris Sale joined some very elite company tonight:
Chris Sale is just the 2nd pitcher in 101 years to get 10+ K's In 8 straight games! #GetSerious
— Baseball Serious (@BaseballSerious) July 1, 2015
The only other pitcher to accomplish this feat was Pedro Martinez in 1999. He ended up fanning 12 on the night and pretty much making anyone not wearing #15 look foolish.
And if it wasn’t a forgone conclusion that Sale would get there, it wan’t a longshot, either:
Chris Sale is 7th pitcher with 10 or more strikeouts in game against Cards this season, led by Corey Kluber's 18. #STLCards
— Rob Rains (@RobRains) July 1, 2015
The Cardinals only had 3 players on the roster (Reynolds, Peralta and Bourjos) that had faced the 26 year old White Sox prior to Tuesday night. A special pitching treat, if you will, for Cardinals Nation as the BFIB were showcased one of the best players in baseball.
Sale’s overall MLB ESPN WAR ranks:
- 2013 – 4th
- 2014 – 5th
- 2015 – 10th
For his part, Sale didn’t get rattled by actually seeing a full stadium and showed a large audience just how good he is.
Did his historic effort matter?
I suppose it did, yes. Sans one mistake to Grichuk, he put the Sox in a position to win.
Sale was long departed from the game when Tyler Flowers yanked a Migeul Socolovich meatball over the left center wall to give the Sox a 2-1 win in 11 innings. Soco hadn’t pitched in 9 days and the Sox hadn’t scored in almost 9 innings – something had to give.
Can’t win ’em all.
But having a chance to steal a game against one of the best players in baseball smarts just a bit more than your average July loss.
Photo: Sporting News
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