McAdam: Chris Sale's superb outing needs to be the start of something big

Forget, for a moment, how important it is for the Red Sox to get Nathan Eovaldi back from the Injured List in the next 10 days or so, restoring the starting rotation to full health. Forget, too, the team's obvious need to add at least one more dependable reliever for the back end of game by the time the July 31 trade deadline rolls around.

What the Red Sox need -- as much if not more than anything -- is for Chris Sale to be Chris Sale, the way he was Wednesday night at Kauffman Stadium when he threw a complete game three-hit shutout.

Never mind that the Kansas City Royals' lineup -- young and prone to over-aggressiveness -- was more like a sacrificial lamb for Sale and that future opponents won't be nearly as compliant.

The important thing is for Sale to get on one of his patented rolls, like the one he was on last summer before his shoulder gave out in late July.

It's easy to forget now because there was so much late-season angst over Sale's physical condition, but for a period of almost two months -- from June 8 to Aug. 12, a period including a two-week DL stint and his first start back -- Sale was virtually untouchable. In nine starts in that span, he was 7-1 with an 0.69 ERA. He allowed just 33 hits in 65 innings and struck out 109 while walking just 12, or very nearly a 10-to-1 ratio.

It was during this stretch that the Red Sox began to build their lead over the Yankees in the American League East, and effectively pulled away for their third division title in a row. They were 8-2 in those 10 Sale starts, and the momentum he provided in those outings seemed to propel the rest of the rotation, and by extension, the team itself.

Every fifth day, the Red Sox could be reasonably certain that they were going to win Sale's start.

That hasn't been the case with Sale this year. Wednesday's effort was just his second win of the year, and while we've come to view starter wins in the proper context, there were some fair to less-than-exemplary outings for the lefty in those first two months.

Sure, he had nights where the baseball gods robbed him of a victory -- his 17-strikeout domination of the Colorado Rockies comes to mind -- where Sale surely deserved a better fate.

But neither he, nor the team has been able to ride that momentum for an extended period of time.

Now is that time this season.

The Red Sox have dawdled long enough, dropping all five head-t0-head meetings with the front-running Yankees, putting themselves in the middle of the division standings. Sale has contributed to that some, too, turning in two mediocre outings against the Yankees, the most recent of which came last weekend.

Each time, he has gamely accepted responsibility and chastised himself for not pitching better against the Sox' rivals.

Wednesday night, he seemed to grasp what was at stake. Although it may only have been the feeble Royals, Sale knew he had go deep into the game since the Sox are planning on using spot starter Ryan Weber in Thursday's matinee and the bullpen needed to be fully rested.

There was no messing around from the beginning. He needed just nine pitches to get through the first. On four other occasions -- including the eighth when he posted his second ''immaculate inning'' of the season -- Sale didn't hit double-digits in his inning pitch count.

The Royals never sniffed a rally. Sale didn't issue a single walk and didn't allow a runner as far as second base all night. He only pitched out of the stretch a handful of times all evening.

"That was fun to watch,'' said Alex Cora. "He made some great pitches. After seven, I talked to him and I was like, 'Probably one more?' He said, 'I'm rolling; I feel good.' I said, 'Let's see how he goes in the eighth.' Then, he did that (the immaculate inning). I'm like, OK, I'm going stay away from this one before he chokes me.''

When Sale is on, the way he was Wednesday night, he appears to almost toying with opposing hitters, setting them up from one pitch to the next, constructing a narrative with an outcome Sale already seems to know.

It helped, too, that Sale had a quick 2-0 lead before he took the mound, giving him the kind of offense support that has been lacking at times this year. His average run support coming in was just over three per outing, easily the worst on the team.

So, others have their part to do in this. Four or five runs, for good measure, should do the trick.

The rest is up to Sale.

It's the time of the season for him to put the Sox on his slender frame and carry them back into the race.