Sale finally gets in win column as Red Sox roll over White Sox
He wasn't throwing straight gas like the Chris Sale of old Friday night.
That was about the only difference.
Everything else was pretty much the same as Sale returned to Guaranteed Rate Field and shut down the White Sox in the Red Sox's 6-1 win.
Coming into the game, Sale was an uncharacteristic 0-5 with a 6.30 ERA.
He wasn't throwing as hard as normal during the opening month of the season and into his start against the White Sox, and that likely goes back to the shoulder soreness Sale had in the second half of 2018 with Boston.
So the fastball was in 92-93 mph with a 96 max Friday instead of the steady old 97-98 heat.
White Sox manager Rick Renteria was still expecting a tough night for his hitters.
"At the end of the day, everybody knows he's a pretty good pitcher," Renteria said. "I hope he's not that tonight. I hope we're able to do something against him and put ourselves in a good position. But other than that, Chris Sale is Chris Sale. He's a pretty dominant guy."
Working a little less with the fastball, Sale was able to keep the White Sox off balance with his still lethal slider and changeup.
"It was nice to feel like I'm back on track and actually help this team win a ballgame," Sale said.
While winning his first game of the year and lowering his ERA to 5.25, Sale scattered 3 hits over 6 scoreless innings. The 30-year-old lefty had only 1 walk and 10 strikeouts.
Sale pitched for the White Sox from 2010-16 before being traded to Boston for Yoan Moncada and Michael Kopech.
"It's never not going to be weird," Sale said. "It's never not going to be something. Obviously, I pitched here it seems like a million times. I like this place. I've always liked pitching on this mound. Being here, it's special to me."
In his first 6 starts of the season, the Red Sox scored 2 or fewer runs when Sale was in the game.
That quickly changed when Rafael Devers hit a 3-run homer off Reynaldo Lopez in the first inning.
Coming off a Sunday start against the Tigers where he struck out 14 while allowing 1 run in 6 innings, Lopez settled down after Devers' mammoth shot to center field.
The White Sox's right-hander kept Boston off the scoreboard until the sixth, when Michael Chavis hit a 2-run homer and Mookie Betts walked with the bases loaded.
"It was just two bad pitches," Lopez said through a translator. "At this level, when you make mistakes you're going to pay for it, and I paid for it tonight."
With the White Sox's bullpen worn out, second baseman Jose Rondon pitched the ninth inning and held Boston scoreless while throwing screwballs that barely hit 50 mph.