McAdam: Chris Sale ready to accept blame, but has few answers

Chris Sale had reason to believe Tuesday would be different.

The Red Sox were finally through with their marathon season-opening road trip and back home in front of their own fans, who, while battling near-freezing temperatures, were eager to celebrate last year's championship and point the Sox in the right direction.

The pre-game ceremony went as planned, which is to say flawlessly.

The rest? Don't ask.

Sale was handed a quick 2-0 lead after two innings, and just as quickly gave it back. Then it got worse: three more runs allowed in the fourth -- including the final one on a straight steal of home -- and a quick exit after just 76 pitches and only 12 outs.

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As ever, Sale was plenty accountable.

"Today was on me,'' he said flatly after the Sox dropped their home opener, 7-5 to the Toronto Blue Jays. "We were supposed to win today's game. We score five runs on a day that I start, we've got to win that one. It's very easy to toss on top of the pile and say 'We're not playing good.' But this wasn't us not playing good; this was me sucking today.

"That's frustrating because today was the day we were going to turn it around. We're back home, the (pre-game) ceremony, in front of our fans, playing our first home game. Everyone knew what they had to do except for me and that's a frustrating spot to be in.''

But while Sale was eager to take on blame for what had happened, finding answers proved more challenging. When I asked Sale if he had ever felt this lost on a mound, his response was quick and more than a little disconcerting.

"Never in my life,'' he said.



At this point, it's difficult to determine which is more troubling: Sale's performance through the first three games or his inability to pinpoint the cause.

It's bad enough Sale has twice, in the first three games, allowed five or more earned runs -- or, as many as he had in his first two seasons with the Red Sox. It's bad enough that it took Sale until his 13th inning of work this season to get his first swing-and-miss on a fastball. It's bad enough that a guy who has been nearly unhittable for much of his career allowed six hits in the span of eight hitters.

As teammate Dustin Pedroia noted: "He's going to be fine. He's Chris Sale. Everybody hits tough patches throughout the year -- everyone does.''

But the fact that Sale can't provide a solution to the mess he's created? That's not a good sign.

On Tuesday, it wasn't about velocity. Unlike his last outing in Oakland -- where his average fastball was under 90 mph for the first start of his career -- Sale cranked up the heater some, regularly throwing his fastball 93-94 and occasionally hitting 95 mph.

But Sale didn't have much command of his slider or changeup, and with Toronto hitters following the lead of the Mariners and A's and largely laying off (or fouling off) his fastball, Sale consistently fell into hitters' counts -- without the wipeout slider or above-average fastball to bail himself out of trouble.

"He was unable to put hitters away,'' said Alex Cora. "He didn't have too many swings-and-misses and he paid the price.''

In Seattle, Sale's arm strength had perhaps not been fully ramped up. In Oakland, he was battling a stomach bug that left him weak. But Tuesday, Sale simply couldn't figure things out.

"Right now I'm just trying to find it .... grinding,'' said a subdued Sale. "Obviously, you guys are watching. I'm struggling. I don't know if I've ever pitched like this in my life. Tough spot to be in, but I've got guys in here fighting and I've got to keep fighting. There's no giving up. If something's not working, you've got to go to something else. When that's not working, go to something else.

"I'm working. That only goes so far. This isn't a 'hard work league.' This is a 'do-good league.' I've got to start going out there and performing.''

Sale has looked at video and tried to figure out the issue. To date, he hasn't found it.

"If I knew what it was, I'd fix it,'' he said. "I'm spinning my tires, looking at this, looking at that, seeing if I'm tipping pitches, seeing if it's mechanics, if it's angles. I'm still searching for it.''

David Price, who has had his share of tough moments in Boston, feels for his teammate.

"It's tough to watch,'' Price told BostonSportsJournal.com. "He'll get out of it. I definitely feel for him. He knows I'm here for him if he wants to talk about whatever. So is everybody else. But he's too good, period. The back of his baseball card will let you know how good he has been and how good he is now and what we expect from him going forward. He'll get back to that.''

For the spiraling Red Sox, not soon enough.