NEW YORK — Chris Sale does not mind if you doubt, have doubted, or intend to doubt the 2018 Red Sox.
After 13 pitches in a perfect eighth-inning appearance on Tuesday night in the decisive game of the ALDS, Sale was asked about the level of respect the Sox received leading into and during the series. The Sox finished off the Yanks with two consecutive wins in New York, the last one a 4-3 victory on Tuesday.
“We’re here now. Doesn’t matter. Anybody outside of this clubhouse can say whatever they want,” Sale said during the champagne celebration. “We know who we are and we know what we can do. Comes with the business, You know? It's the nature of the beast. It is what it is.
“Anyone can say whatever they want, but we know who we are, we know what we can do and put up 16 [runs] yesterday and clinched it today, so. Keep comin’ with it.”
Sale was the scheduled Game 5 starter, and now can rest up for Game 1 against the Astros instead. With a three-run lead, manager Alex Cora wasn’t afraid to use Sale, even with the possibility he’d have to start two days later if something went wrong and the Yankees came back to win Game 4. Sale entered with the Sox ahead 4-1.
“He's been talking about it for three days already,” Cora said. “In the seventh, we got together, Dana [LeVangie], Ron [Roenicke], and myself. We already talked to the training staff about if he was okay to come in. He was in the bullpen, but it was kind of like his day. Everybody was on board. I even shouted to the dugout, ‘Hey, we're all in. He's coming in.’ ”
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Rick Porcello, the winning pitcher who threw five innings of one-run ball, said he knew from Sale’s first pitch to Gleyber Torres that he was on point.
"Awesome. He’s a gamer,” Porcello said. “Everything that’s been through this year, and he’s pitching the eighth inning. Can’t say enough about him. It’s not just the talent that makes Chris Sale, it’s everything. It’s everything he’s got inside.”
