McAdam: Chris Sale has his 'David Ortiz 2013 in St. Louis' moment in dugout, spurring comeback

LOS ANGELES -- In 2013, the Red Sox found themselves down to the St. Louis Cardinals two games to one in the World Series and were in danger of falling behind 3-1 in Game 4 when David Ortiz sounded the alarm.

Cameras caught Ortiz gathering players in the dugout, and conveying a sense of urgency. Ortiz's message was simple: You don't get the opportunity to be champions very often; let's not waste this one.

The message stuck. The Red Sox rallied late in that game, evened the series, then went on to win the next two in taking out the Cardinals in six games.

On Saturday night at Dodger Stadium, in another critical moment in another World Series Game 4, pitcher Chris Sale had a similar dugout pep talk.

Fox cameras caught Sale in the dugout, after the Sox had fallen behind 4-0 to the Los Angeles Dodgers, urging the Sox to show some life and snap out of their offensive doldrums (one earned run in the previous 24 innings).

https://twitter.com/Cut4/status/1056382673965498368

"From the things I heard, yes, it was like David,'' said hitting coach Tim Hyers. "David had everybody's respect and it's really impressive when leaders help the squad out. (It was a matter of) leaders being leaders, stepping up and not afraid and not afraid to say something.''

Sale was quite demonstrative. And no one dared to offer any response to his rant.

"I didn't see anyone, no,'' said Hyers, with a wry smile.

That's for good reason, apparently. Though he is of slight build, Sale can still be imposing, given that he stands 6-foot-5. And precisely because he isn't usually quite this ... um ... animated, it got everyone's attention.

"It scared me a little bit,'' confessed Rafael Devers, "because I had never seen him yell like that and the words that he was saying. I had never heard come from him before. But you know, we came out sluggish and that moment helped us get motivated for the rest of the game.''

Devers, whose native language is Spanish but has made great strides with his English, was asked if he comprehended what Sale was conveying.

"Yeah, but I can't say it here,'' Devers said in a postgame interview room session.

Assistant hitting coach Andy Barkett was near the eruption and caught an earful.

"I was right in front of him, actually,'' said Barkett. "It was, 'We just need to get it going; our pitchers have done a heck of a job keeping us in games.' He was just trying to rally the troops. It was really nothing specific. It was just, 'Hey, let's go.' As a coaching staff, we do that a lot. But coming from a guy like him, who's a leader on the team and obviously one of our top starters, that's a big voice. So coming from him, I think everybody was like, 'Alright, let's go.'

"The way they responded was unbelievable. He's got a future in managing, I think. I think maybe Chris Sale woke everybody up.''

It certainly appeared to work. In the top of the seventh, Mitch Moreland delivered a three-run, pinch-hit homer, turning what had been a four-run deficit into a one-run hole. The next inning, a pinch single from Rafael Devers tied it. And in the ninth, the Sox pried the game open with five more runs, giving them nine unanswered runs since Sale roared.

"I think it brought more energy to the dugout,'' Hyers said, " Some energy, there's some more guys who kind of got into it. And then obviously, the three-run homer was the icing on the cake in terms of momentum moving forward. I think it just created some energy with the guys. They looked a little deeper. The ones who heard it, looked a little deeper and knew what was at stake.''

The fact that the inspiration for an offensive outburst came from a starting pitcher was rare indeed. Usually, starting pitchers -- who typically contribute just once every five days -- find it hard to command that sort of leadership role.

But not Sale.

"It's usually really tough,'' agreed Hyers, "But that just says a lot about who Chris Sale is, in my opinion, and how his teammates look to him.  There's so much that goes into it and that's something that (fans) got a chance to see. The (position players) know who he is. He's got their backs, no matter the situation throughout the whole year, so when Chris says something like this, I think guys dug a little bit deeper and obviously it worked.''