Red Sox look to give Sale run support vs. Orioles (May 02, 2017)
BOSTON -- On paper, the Boston Red Sox have a major starting-pitcher advantage on Tuesday in the second game of a four-game series against the Baltimore Orioles.
But as Boston ace Chris Sale clearly knows after his first month with his new team, the game is played on the field and not on paper.
Sale, who has been better than even the Red Sox could have expected his first five starts since coming to Boston in an offseason deal involving top prospects, is just 1-2 with a 1.19 ERA as he takes the mound against right-hander Alec Asher on Tuesday.
The Red Sox have scored a total of four runs in Sale's five starts. They also aren't hitting for reigning Cy Young Award winner Rick Porcello, who took his fourth loss Monday -- matching his total from last year.
"He's electric," teammate Jackie Bradley Jr., speaking to the Chicago media last week, said of Sale. "He's a special pitcher, a special teammate. I faced him a few times the last couple of years. Didn't like it. It's better off now that he's on this side.
"He's fun to watch and fun to play behind. Man, I can't wait to see more of him."
Sale leads the majors with 52 strikeouts, the second most for any pitcher since 1893 in his first five games with a new team (Randy Johnson, Arizona, 55, 1999). But without support, he had just one victory in April.
That matches the win total accumulated by Asher, who is 1-0 with a 2.16 ERA in just three appearances. On April 15, he, too, was the victim of non-support, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing one run on three hits in a no-decision against the Toronto Blue Jays. That was his lone start of the season.
Asher picked up a win in relief over the Tampa Bay Rays on April 26, three days after he worked a scoreless inning against the Red Sox. It was his first career appearance vs. Boston.
"I'm happy to be with the club and winning games, and I'll do whatever they want me to do, as long as I stay here," Asher said. "I've thrown a couple extra bullpens on the side to stay fresh, but I'm ready to go."
Sale is 2-2 with a 3.41 ERA in 11 career games (five starts) against Baltimore.
The Orioles, in Boston with folks wondering if there would be any carryover from the recent Dustin Pedroia/Manny Machado situation (Mookie Betts was hit by a pitch Monday night), should be bolstered Tuesday by the return of closer Zach Britton from the disabled list.
Britton, who has been dealing with a forearm problem, made rehab appearances for Double-A Bowie on Friday and Sunday.
"I feel like I'm ready to go," Britton said Monday. "(Sunday) was good, a lot better than the first one. I think the first day, I had a little hesitation throwing the balls -- everything was kind of up. I told (Baltimore manager) Buck (Showalter) I felt a little rusty, and (Sunday), I felt good.
"I felt where I should be in order to be activated, so I'm looking forward to getting back on the field with the team. ... I think with pitch-quality-wise, I think if you look at the quality of pitches, not really the results, I've felt like where I needed to be in order to get activated."
Adam Jones is 4-for-13 with a homer against Sale but also has struck out five times against the skinny left-hander. Machado is 3-for-9, but Chris Davis is 1-for-10, Craig Gentry 2-for-11 and Caleb Joseph 2-for-9.
The Red Sox have been guilty of 12 errors in six games during the current homestand, 10 of them in the past three games.
"We're in a tough stretch defensively, far (under) what our capabilities are, and we need to clean it up," said Red Sox manager John Farrell.
The Red Sox also are not hitting -- Monday marking the sixth time in their past 11 games that they were blanked through seven innings.
