BOSTON — A season ago, when his Atlanta Braves visited Fenway Park for a brief two-game interleague set, Chris Sale could only watch as his present team took on his former one.
On Friday night, the Red Sox might have hoped for the same good timing. Instead, Sale opened the weekend series with seven innings of one-run ball to earn the win in Atlanta’s 4-2 win over the Red Sox.
“I love it here,” proclaimed Sale, who yielded just five hits while striking out eight and walking two. “There’s no secret there. I’ve always enjoyed, even when I was with Chicago, coming here and playing. I spent seven years and had some really good moments and I appreciate this place for what it is.”
Having spent seven seasons with the Red Sox, Sale insisted he hadn’t had the date circled on his calendar for weeks, or that the ramp-up to the outing was any different, even if his manager, Brian Snitker, noticed Sale appearing especially intense in the first inning.
“I didn’t know exactly how the rotation was going to line up,” Sale said. “I look at every game this same, really. I’ve never gone out on a big league field and been like, ‘OK, this one is OK to lose.’ I guess with the story in the background and all that, there is a little bit more. But I was just trying to focus on what I needed to do and that’s try to win a game.”
Still, there were unique trappings to the outing, including the fact that his wife and two boys were in attendance, seated behind the visitor’s dugout. When Sale was done after seven innings, he leaned over and hugged his sons.
“It’s like walking into your childhood home,’’ he said. ”You just have a lot of memories that you built, a lot of relationships that you still have and appreciate. Again, you just try to push all of those to the wayside and do your job. The ceremony stops at pitch one. No one’s giving in or giving up or thinking about anything other than winning and doing their job. So I kind of had to do the same.”
It was Garett Crochet’s misfortune to draw Sale as a mound opponent Friday — “the opposite of luck of the draw,” the Red Sox lefty said — and it remained a taut battle through much of the night. While the Braves connected for two solo homers off Crochet in the second, the Sox were held scoreless through six innings facing Sale.
Sale, who mirrored his team’s start by getting off to a poor start (6.17 ERA through his first five starts), was dominant. After wiggling out of a jam in the third following a one-out Jarren Duran triple, Sale wasn’t pressed much.
Finally, in the seventh, Rob Refsnyder connected for a shot into the Monster Seats to halve the lead, but the Red Sox could draw no closer.
He used a blazing fastball that regularly sat at 97 mph and occasionally touched 99 mph — remarkable velocity for a 36-year-old.
Did the setting and resulting adrenaline help his velocity? Or was this a continuation of a run that saw him post a 1.85 ERA over his previous four starts?
“Probably a little bit of both,” said Sale. “I feel like over my last few starts, I’ve been kind of ticking upward. I probably carried it a little bit better tonight. You’re talking about Fenway Park on a Friday night, so, it’s not tough to feel that.”
That he was matched against Crochet didn’t up the emotional ante, Sale maintained.
“No matter who I’m facing,” said Sale, “what ballpark you’re in, who I’m pitching against, or the lineup, you just have to go out there and compete. Obviously, he’s one of the best pitchers on the planet right now and he was advertised tonight.”
Crochet and Sale have some similarities. Both were drafted out of college by the White Sox, began their big league career in the bullpen and were eventually traded to Boston for several top prospects.
Still, the two don’t have much of a history, having met just once prior, at last year’s All-Star Game.
To the degree that Sale was taking notice of the opposing pitcher, Crochet registered a positive impression to the pitcher to whom he’s been compared.
“Big boy throwing really good stuff up there,” said Sale of Crochet. “He’s got unbelievable stuff. I’ve heard nothing but great things about his makeup and character.”
It was not, however, good enough to get the better of Sale on this night.
