Chris Sale pitched in Chicago like he did for many years, but this time he was on the mound for the Red Sox. It was sold as a pitchers duel between Sale and Jose Quintana, but it ended up being a home run derby. Sale gave up 6 runs in his 5 short innings of work, but it wouldn’t matter since the Sox ended up hitting 6 home runs and scoring 13 runs throughout the game.
The Red Sox gave Sale 4 runs of support in the top of the 2nd inning. Jackie Bradley Jr. hit an RBI double, Deven Marrero hit a 2 run homer and then Mookie Betts hit a solo home run. Red 4-0. That would usually be enough and then some for Chris Sale, but not in this game. Sale gave up 3 runs of his own in the bottom of the 2nd to have the Red Sox only up one run. Sale gave up an RBI single to Garcia and then a 2 run RBI single to Abreu. Red 4-3. The Red Sox got those 3 runs right back when Deven Marrero another home run in the top of the 3rd, a 3 run bomb this time. Red 7-3. Sale gave up 3 more runs before his outing was done to have the Sox once again only clinging to a one run lead. Sale gave up an RBI single to Anderson in the bottom of the 3rd and then a 2 run homer to Frazier in the bottom of the 4th. Red 7-6. Sale pitched a scoreless 5th inning, but by then he had thrown 111 pitches and was done. Sale easily had his worst pitching performance since putting on a Red Sox uniform and it was against his former ball club.
The Red Sox got right back on the board in the top of the 5th and did it with another homer. This time it was Jackie Bradley Jr. with a 3 run homer. Red 10-6. Heath Hembree was the first one out of the pen for the Red Sox. Hembree pitched two scoreless innings to keep the score 10-6. The Sox tacked on one more run in the top of the 8th when Xander Bogaerts joined the home run derby with a solo shot of his own. Red 11-6. Blaine Boyer came out for the bottom of the 8th and allowed the White Sox to score their 7th and final run of the game. Boyer gave up a lead off home run to Anderson. Red 11-7. Boyer continued to have trouble and had runners on the corners with two outs. The Red Sox decided not to chance it and brought Craig Kimbrel in for the 4 out save. Kimbrel got the final out of the inning to send it on to the 9th. The Red Sox bats weren’t done yet though. Mitch Moreland hit the 6th and final home run for the Red Sox, this time of the 2 run variety. Red 13-7. Even though the Red Sox were now leading by 6 runs, Kimbrel was still in a save situation and came back out for the 9th. Kimbrel issued a lead off walk, but then retired the next 3 batters in order to get the save and the win.
Red Sox 13 White Sox 7 BOXSCORE
WP: Sale (6-2) LP: Quintana (2-7) SV: Kimbrel (14)
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