And on the 38th day, Chris Sale could finally exhale.
The last time Sale made seven consecutive starts in a season without his team winning one was never. The Red Sox had dropped all six of his turns this season, however, tying the career-worst mark he set with the White Sox in 2015.
How fitting then that Sale found himself on that familiar Chicago mound on Friday, looking to avoid the ignominy of an 0-6 start. He had been better in his last turn, tossing seven innings and allowing two earned runs in a loss to the Rays.
He still hadn't been Chris Sale, though, which was becoming a growing cause for concern. Some of us even wondered if we should stop waiting for the 99-mph fastball to return and instead focus on how Sale could find a way to win with what he has, which is a low-90s slider with a devastating slider and perhaps the fiercest will in the big leagues.
He finally showed us what that might look like against his old team, shutting out the White Sox for six innings and striking out 10 in a 6-1 victory.
Sale didn't have his vintage stuff -- at some point, we're going to stop saying that and just take it as a given -- but he had more than enough. Featuring a 92-93 mph fastball that he pumped up to 94 and 96 (once) when needed, Sale ripped through the Chicago lineup, limiting the hosts to three hits and a walk over 104 pitches.
He finished in style, striking out Yoan Moncada looking to end the sixth. Sale recorded five of his final six outs via the K.
Boston Red Sox
Needless to say, that's more like it.
"It was nice to feel like I'm back on track and actually help this team win a ballgame," Sale told reporters in Chicago. "Just kind of got back to some old little things I used to do."
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For one thing, Sale was finally able to command his fastball inside to right-handed hitters, and he threw more of them. Whereas his past two starts had trended towards 50 percent sliders, this time Sale had enough command of his four-seam fastball to throw a season-high 37 of them, vs. just 38 sliders.
"I've been grinding," Sale said. "I know it hasn't looked pretty up to this point but that's sports, that's baseball, sometimes you figure it out and you ride that wave and sometimes you're out there in the middle of the ocean trying to find it, so not only myself but a lot of people in here have helped me get to this point and obviously I'm happy with how we got it done tonight. Hopefully, I can keep riding that wave and finding that groove and continue to build off of this and keep it going."
Sale's performance was well-timed because the Red Sox were coming off a demoralizing walk-off loss to the White Sox on Thursday that had stunted the momentum of eight wins in 12 games. For them to bounce right back behind their ace -- plus monster home runs from Rafael Devers and Michael Chavis -- provides some hope that Thursday will end up as more of a speed bump than Jersey barrier.
"I think last year he took off May 6 in Texas," said manager Alex Cora. "I was talking about that. The weather obviously is a lot different, but he pitched well today: 94, 95, good slider, fastball inside. You've got to stick with the process, and we've been very patient. Obviously, we wanted results before, but you stay with the process and good things are going to happen. You could see him, his body language halfway through the last start, it was good and today. It was a good sign."
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