All you need to know, in quickie form, about the Red Sox' 1-0 loss to the White Sox, complete with BSJ insight and analysis
BOX SCORE
HEADLINES
Sale a tough-luck loser: For much of the season, Chris Sale has been the victim of poor run support from his teammates, but Friday night, that was taken to the extreme. The Red Sox managed just three hits all night, and Sale was left with the defeat despite allowing just one run over eight innings. In 89 innings, the Red Sox have scored just 47 runs for him, and the team is just 7-7 in his 14 starts. Sale, of course, was not about to complain. "Everyone would love to have 10 (runs) a game,'' said Sale. "But shoot, look at my last two (starts in which he gave up 10 runs in 10.1 innings) — I flat-out sucked, so I'm not going to sit here and point fingers at anybody. Would I have liked to win this game? Absolutely. So would everyone else in here. But it would be kind of selfish of me to say something like that, especially looking at my last two.'' With the benefit of a two days extra rest, Sale's velocity ticked up and he hit triple digits on the radar gun a few times. He also was pleased with an improved rhythm and tempo.
Red Sox offense has hit a wall: It was bound to happen. The Red Sox have either led or been second in virtually every offensive category for most of the season, and in a recent spurt, had scored five runs or more in nine of 12 games. But the last two nights, the Sox have managed a grand total of two runs in 18 innings and lost both games. Surely, the Sox are now missing Mookie Betts -- who's missed almost two weeks with an abdominal strain -- and were without J.D. Martinez (back spasms) from their lineup. "Sometimes, we just don't have it,'' said Xander Bogaerts. "Any lineup with J.D. and Mookie in it is obviously a hundred times better, but we obviously have guys who are capable, that have been swinging the bat really well and we've got other guys heating up also. I know that once we get them back, we'll be a whole different ballclub.''
The one run scored against the Red Sox involved some luck: After Sale had shut them out for the first six innings, the White Sox broke through in the seventh. The inning started when Kevan Smith blooped a ball into shallow right. The ball hit the grass, then took a funny hop into the right-field seats for a ground-rule double; ordinarily, that ball would have been a routine single. Then, after Smith was moved over the third on a groundout to the right side, the Sox brought the infield in, and wouldn't you know it, Trayce Thompson hit a line drive over the head of Bogaerts. Has the infield been back at regular depth, Bogaerts would have easily gloved that line drive. Instead, the White Sox had the only run of the game. It was that kind of night.
TURNING POINT
In retrospect, it may have taken place in the very first inning. Andrew Benintendi doubled off the wall and Brock Holt soon joined him on base with a walk. The Sox had first and second, with no outs and the heart of their lineup coming up. But after a strikeout by Bogaerts, Mitch Moreland hit into an inning-ending 3-6-1 double play, killing any momentum. Had the Sox gotten a couple of runs out of their opportunity, the whole tenor of the game could have changed. Instead, White Sox starter Dylan Covey gained confidence and retired 17 of the next 18 hitters he faced after the walk to Holt.
TWO UP
Heath Hembree: Called on for the top of the ninth to keep the game a one-run affair, Hembree did just that, setting down the White Sox in order, with two strikeouts.
Sandy Leon: Leon did his usual fine job of handling Sale behind the plate, and while he was hitless in three at-bats, he also picked a baserunner off at second base to help Sale get out of a jam.
ONE DOWN
Jackie Bradley Jr.: After a period that saw Bradley figure some things out at the plate and drive the ball more, he regressed with an 0-for-3 night with three strikeouts, dropping him back down under the .200 marker for the season.
QUOTE
"Tough loss. Sucks losing 1-0 games.''
— Chris Sale
STATISTICALLY SPEAKING
- The loss marked just the second shutout of the season for the Red Sox.
- The setback was also their first 1-0 home loss since Sept. 14, 2016.
- At 2:24, the game was the shortest at Fenway since May 27, 2017.
- Sale reached double-digits in strikeouts for the fourth time this season.
- For the second straight night, Benintendi led off the Red Sox first with an extra-base hit.
- Sandy Leon recorded his first career pickoff at second base in the seventh inning.
- All 13 of the doubles hit by Rafael Devers have come off right-handed pitching.