Sale, Sox triumph over Twins
Chris Sale is back. Can the same be said for the White Sox?
"Once you get Chris back I think everybody feels a little more complete," manager Robin Ventura said after the Sox won their second straight game over the Twins, a 6-2 decision Sunday at U.S. Cellular Field.
"Plus, when you score runs you just feel better, no matter how it is," Ventura added.
If Jose Abreu is the best player on the White Sox, Sale is a very, very close second.
And after fracturing his right foot and missing the entire Cactus League warmup season, Sale looked very much like his old self in his first start of the real season.
Over 6 innings against Minnesota, the Sox' 26-year-old ace allowed 1 run on 5 hits while issuing 1 walk and striking out eight. Sale threw 98 pitches in his debut, and the last one was a 98-mph fastball that struck out Eduardo Escobar.
"It helps when you have some runs in your back pocket, especially that early in the game," Sale said. "You try to find a rhythm and try not to mess it up. Like I said before, I'm not hurt anymore. I'm back to being a baseball player."
Sale's fastball was explosive, and his changeup also was very good. But the left-hander does have room to improve.
"Not a very good slider today, actually," catcher Tyler Flowers said. "We were trying to pick spots to use it and get a better feel for it and it seemed like every time we did that we gave up a basehit. So we just kind of scrapped that.
"But the fastball-changeup combo, great job being aggressive, attacking the zone, making guys swing."
The Sox came out swinging against the Twins' top starter, Phil Hughes.
Five straight hits in the first inning, including an RBI single by Adam LaRoche and Alexei Ramirez's RBI double, put them in front 2-0. The White Sox could have had more if Abreu didn't try going from first to third on LaRoche's basehit.
Abreu also made a fielding gaffe in the eighth inning that allowed Minnesota to pull within 3-2, but another RBI from Ramirez and Gordon Beckham's 2-run homer in the bottom half allowed the Sox to cruise home comfortably.
"I like the way we've bounced back," Beckham said. "(Saturday) wasn't a blowout win and we got down early and it kind of showed that we've got some belief in ourselves to come back and get that win. Come out today and keep that momentum going."
With Sale back in working order, the White Sox are instantly looking more like the competitive team they're expected to be.
"It doesn't matter what you throw at us, we are going to find a way," Sale said. "We have grinders. We have fighters. Just (Saturday), you look at what Jeff (Samardzija) did. He's down in a 4-0 hole and gets to the seventh and you know we end up winning that game. What were we, 0-4?
"Right there, that's being a ballclub. That's being together and working hard for each other. That's what we are going to get from here on out."