Chris Sale puts together dominating performance for Red Sox in debut

Red Sox win in extra innings and Chris Sale shows flashes of brilliance in his Red Sox debut.

The Boston Red Sox paid a heavy price by trading some high-profile prospects to acquire ace left-hander Chris Sale this offseason. Wednesday, Sale made his debut for the Red Sox at the historical Fenway Park in Boston.

In his debut against the Pirates, Sale was as good as advertised, putting together a dominating performance. Sale threw seven shutout innings on 104 pitches, 68 of which were strikes. He also struck out seven and gave up only three hits and one walk. He commanded the strike zone really well, attacking hitters for the entirety of the game. Luckily for the Red Sox, they were able to get the win in extra innings thanks to Sandy Leon’s three-run home run in the 12th inning.

Coming into Wednesday, Sale had never lost his opening start of the season. Unfortunately, his strong outing wasn’t enough to earn the win as Boston did not give him any run support during his outing. Pirates starter Jamison Tallion also did not give up any runs in seven innings of work. Sale featured a four-pitch mix of a four-seam fastball, two-seam fastball, changeup, and slider. His velocity was also on display early in the season, topping out at 98 MPH.

Sale, 28, is one of the most deceptive pitchers in baseball with a very odd delivery when he pitches that is known as the Inverted W. Despite the delivery that puts a ton of torque on his elbow and shoulder, Sale has managed to pitch over 200 innings three of the last four years.

In 2016 the 6-foot-6 lefty went 17-10 posting a 3.34 ERA. After spending the first seven years of his career with the White Sox, Sale could potentially be even better in 2017. Pitching behind a terrific Red Sox offense and much better defensive supporting cast in Boston, Sale could be in line for a Cy Young award in 2017. He will follow 2016 Cy Young winner Rick Porcello in the Red Sox rotation. The Red Sox are favorites to win the AL East in 2017 thanks to the addition of Chris Sale.