Well, this type of outing is not nearly what you hope for when you are angling to win a Cy Young Award and help your team clinch the division.
Chris Sale’s outing against the Jays went very badly and could cost him the Cy Young
Four home runs wasn’t the outing Boston fans were looking for.
Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images
Chris Sale let up four home runs against the Toronto Blue Jays in only five innings on Tuesday, and as it is possibly his last outing of the season this could sink his shot of beating out Cleveland’s Corey Kluber in the AL Cy Young race.
Down 5-1 and after only 92 pitches from Sale, the Sox pulled him and gave Matt Barnes the ball. He finished the night with five earned runs, eight hits, and he struck out only eight batters.
It was only the second time in his career he’s let up four home runs in one start.
Sale was also going for Boston’s single-season strikeout record (after hitting the 300-strikeout mark last week) and needed 13 to beat Pedro Martinez’s 1999.
Final impressions of the season can affect voter opinions in every race for awards in baseball, but with such limited final opportunities to watch starters on the mound in September the Cy Young Award can be particularly influenced by a few shaky days.
Sale has had a September slip that could not only lose him the Cy Young but may have Boston fans nervous about how he looks going into the postseason. Everyone rooting for the Red Sox would rather him fully bounce back for the playoffs than take home a trophy.
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