Chris Sale had an innings restriction for his first start in over two months, but he made the most of it.
Taking the mound for Friday night’s series opener, the 34-year-old left-hander didn’t give the Detroit Tigers an inch early on. Over four perfect innings, he struck out six, induced eight swings & misses, and of the six balls put in play by the visiting lineup, only two left the bat with an exit velocity above 80.3 mph.
Despite the reported 4-inning limit, Sale came back out for the fifth. He got two quick outs before Kerry Carpenter broke up his perfecto bid with a 434-foot solo home run. When the Red Sox starter followed that up by hitting Javier Báez with a pitch, Alex Cora went to his bullpen.
Sale walked off to a standing ovation from the Fenway Faithful. No other Red Sox pitcher has started a game by retiring as many as 12 consecutive batters this year; Sale retired 14 of 14 before the Carpenter homer. His 4 2/3 innings were nearly perfect, and for the second time this season (April 30), he didn’t issued a single walk.
Tarik Skubal wasn’t as lucky. The Boston bats attacked early and often, though their bad habits of stranding runners and hitting into double plays persisted, costing them several opportunities to really put the hurt on.
Leadoff man Rob Refsnyder got the Red Sox on the board almost immediately, reaching on a throwing error and scoring moments later, when Masataka Yoshida ground into a force out.
But as has been the case nearly every game since the All-Star break, the biggest hit of the night belonged to Triston Casas. With two on and one out, the Red Sox rookie sent a Skubal slider deep to right-center for his 19th home run of the season.
Skubal didn’t make his season debut until July 4, but over six starts (27 innings) entering Friday, he hadn’t given up a home run all season. Of the 54 career home runs allowed by the 26-year-old southpaw since his 2020 debut, Casas’ was only the third by a left-handed hitter.
Casas has been on fire since the All-Star break, with 10 home runs in 25 games. After getting off to a slow start this season, he’s putting up numbers the likes of which have only been . According to Stathead, he’s the seventh player franchise under 24 to collect at least ten home runs in a 25-game span, and only the 11th to hit 19 or more home runs as a rookie before turning 24.
Trevor Story is finding his swing again, too. After going 0-for-8 over his first two games of the season, the shortstop collected his first hit on Thursday night. With that initial knock out of the way, Story put together his first multi-hit game and stole his first base of the year on Friday night.
Despite the impressive accomplishments noted above, the overall offensive product continues to underperform. Through eight innings, the Red Sox were 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight men.
The Red Sox are 61-55, and have won four of their last five games. Trevor Story is hitting, Chris Sale is pitching. This season is far from over.