 entered with a 6.30 ERA through six starts, but was dominant against Chicago in striking out a season-high 10. The left-hander retired seven of the first eight White Sox batters and didn't allow a hit until Yoan Moncada lined a sharp single with two outs in the fourth.Rafael Devers launched a three-run homer deep to center off Reynaldo Lopez in the first inning. Michael Chavis added two-run shot to the top of the left field stands in the sixth as Boston won for the fourth time in its last five games.Sale walked one and hit two batters as he improved to 2-1 against Chicago, who dealt the seven-time All-Star to Boston in December 2016 for four prospects, including Moncada. Jose Rondon and James McCann each had a double off Sale, but didn't advance.Rondon, an infielder, pitched a scoreless ninth for Chicago despite giving up two singles as Chicago lost for the second time in its last seven. McCann drove in Chicago's run in the eighth with single off Colten Brewer, the second of three Boston relievers.Lopez (2-4) allowed six runs and eight hits through five-plus innings. In his previous start, the right-hander yielded only an unearned run and struck out a career-high 14 in six innings.Lopez retired the first two Red Sox hitters before J. D. Martinez bounced a ground-rule double over the right-center wall and Xander Bogaerts reached on a sharp infield single. Devers then ripped Lopez's first pitch, a belt-high fastball, 430 feet to center for his first homer and a 3-0 Boston lead.Chavis' homer, his fourth, with no outs in the sixth, traveled 459 feet off a slider from Lopez to make it 5-0. Jose Ruiz walked Mookie Betts with the bases loaded to force in another run.SALE'S FIGURESSale left Friday after throwing 104 pitches and 70 strikes. In his six previous starts, he allowed four or more runs four times.TRAINER'S ROOMBoston: CF Jackie Bradley Jr. got the day off and Tzu-Wei Lin started in his place. Lin hooked his left foot awkwardly on the second-base bag in the second when he was caught stealing and left the game with left knee soreness. Andrew Benintendi moved from left field to center and Steve Pearce took over in left. ... 2B Dustin Pedroia (left knee irritation) wasn't scheduled to start at Double-A Portland after beginning a rehab assignment there Thursday and going 0 for 3.White Sox: Top pitching prospect and RHP Michael Kopech, who underwent Tommy John surgery last September, was in Chicago for medical exams. The 22-year-old righty said doctors told him he was ''42%'' through his rehab. Kopech, who's expected to be ready for spring training in 2020, said he has stretched his long-toss program to 120 feet and thrown off flat ground. Bullpen sessions will be next. ... Manager Rick Renteria said OF Jon Jay (hip) has ramped up rehab activities, but there's no timetable for his return.UP NEXTBoston LHP Eduardo Rodriguez (2-2, 6.16) faces White Sox LHP Manny Banuelos (2-0, 2.70) on Saturday night. The Red Sox have supported Rodriguez with 32 runs in his past four starts and won them all, but the lefty has victories in just two. Banuelos will make his third start for Chicago. He pitched 5 2/3 innings against Baltimore on Monday to earn his first win as a starter since July 2015 while with Atlanta.---More MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB and https://twitter.com/-Sports)
Red Sox ace Sale seeking first win as he returns to Chicago Chris Sale last earned a regular-season victory at Guaranteed Rate Field on May 30, 2017. That was in his first year as a member of the Boston Red Sox following a seven-season tenure with the Chicago White Sox.He hasn't been back since but the third-year Boston ace enters this visit still seeking his first victory of the season after going 0-5 with a 6.30 ERA in six starts to begin 2019.You don't have to tell the lanky left-hander."I'm sitting here like a broken record -- what am I, six starts in?" Sale recently told Boston reporters. "I've sucked every bit of every last one of them. I don't want to sit here and say the same things over and over, but hopefully sooner rather than later, that's for damn sure. Like I said, this is a result-oriented game. No one cares about the hard work. No one cares about the effort."We've got to start winning games. I appreciate the effort, I appreciate the hard work and I know on the other end of that comes success. But we've got to find a way. We've got to keep grinding and doing what we're doing. Just hope the other end of it changes because we're doing everything we've got to do. It's just not there right now. But we'll get there." Long introspective and critical of himself, Sale made strides in his most recent outing, a home start against Tampa Bay last Sunday. Sale pitched seven innings for the first time this season, giving up four runs -- two earned -- and four hits with eight strikeouts and three walks.Fellow lefty David Price has lent support to his teammate as Sale endures his struggles."Everybody's different," Price told MassLive. "What I need to do might be different than what he needs to do. If a guy gets off track, there's a bunch of different things he can do to get back on track. There's no book you can read that will tell you this is the right way to do it. This is something you've got to figure out kind of on your own. He knows I'm here for him. He knows I'm here to talk to him about any of this. We talked about that a couple weeks ago. I'm here for him. Anything he wants to bounce off me, coo. I'm here for him. It's something he's going to have to figure out." Coming off his strongest start of the season to date, Reynaldo Lopez (2-3, 6.03 ERA) will start for the White Sox.Lopez, who is 1-0 with a 1.42 ERA in his only start against the Red Sox, struck out a career-high 14 in six innings on Sunday against Detroit, providing a welcome jolt to a starting rotation in sore need of it -- especially after the club learned Thursday that ace left-hander Carlos Rodon may need Tommy John surgery after landing on the injured list with elbow inflammation.The White Sox won Thursday's series opener against Boston 6-4, as left fielder Nicky Delmonico smacked a walk-off, three-run home run with one out in the ninth. Chicago also earned a walk-off victory Wednesday night to salvage a doubleheader split with the Baltimore Orioles."Back-to-back walk-off wins," Delmonico said. "Get some momentum, especially against (Boston). They have an amazing club." --Field Level Media
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