Sale Takes Mound at Polar Park Again, Goes 3.2 Innings With 5 Ks

WORCESTER, M.A. — Chris Sale worked in to the fourth inning for the Worcester Red Sox (43-37) on Wednesday night, tossing a season-high 72 pitches in a Minor League rehab appearance. A crowd of 8,891 saw the left-hander make his fourth start, receiving no decision in an eventual 4-2 loss to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders (37-43) at Polar Park.

Sale went 3.2 innings with the following line: 3 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K, recording 42 strikes on those 72 pitches. The left-hander, returning from a rib fracture, delivered strikeouts on three sliders, one fastball and one changeup.

SWB’s lone run against Sale came on a bases-loaded walk, his final pitch of the night, and the three hits came in form of a soft bloop single and a pair of infield singles (all in the fourth inning).

“It’s almost better that this happened, in some weird way,” Sale said. “Because now I know what I need to work on. I know ‘hey, if the ball’s coming out hot, it’s mechanics.’ … Stuff was there.”

𝓕𝓻𝓲𝓼𝓫𝓮𝓮 pic.twitter.com/JOjcseFsv5

— Worcester Red Sox (@WooSox) July 6, 2022

After a scoreless 1.1 innings from Eduard Bazardo, Josh Taylor took the mound in the sixth inning. In his fourth rehab appearance since June 21, the left-hander struck out the side, putting up 12 strikes on 15 pitches.

Offensively, the WooSox scored in the second and fifth innings on a pair of long balls. The first came from Christin Stewart, a 421-foot smash to right field for his team-leading 15th of the season. Stewart is also one of 12 International League batters to reach the 15 homer mark.

Jeter Downs went deep in the fifth, lifting an 0-1 pitch over the left field wall for his 14th of the year. The swing gives him sole possession of second place in Worcester’s home run ranks, trailing only Stewart.

Since returning from his MLB debut on June 22, Downs is 13-38 (.342) with three homers, six extra-base-hits, nine walks and seven RBIs.

Trailing 2-1 entering the seventh, the RailRiders rallied for three runs in the frame. Caleb Simpson, making his Triple-A season debut, allowed a two-run double to Jake Bauers. After a walk and a single, Jose Peraza made it 4-2 Scranton/Wilkes-Barre with an RBI groundout.

Darwinzon Hernandez started the eighth inning for the WooSox and threw 16 pitches (six strikes), allowing a single, flyout and walk before being lifted from the game. Frank German followed, striking out four over 1.2 scoreless frames.

Worcester failed to score in the ninth and was held to four hits, tying a season low.

The WooSox continue the six-game series Thursday at 6:45 p.m. against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, affiliate of the New York Yankees. On the mound, Chris Murphy (1-0, 4.50) makes his first home start for Worcester, facing Matt Krook (4-6, 4.01). Radio coverage is live at 6:25 p.m. on 98.9 Nash Icon and the WooSox Radio Network, while television coverage is on NESN+.