Chris Sale becomes 1st AL pitcher in 18 years to reach 300 strikeouts in a season
Boston starter accomplishes feat with 13th fan of Wednesday night's game
Boston Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale has become the first AL pitcher in 18 years to record 300 strikeouts in a season.
Sale reached the mark with his 13th strikeout of the game Wednesday night against Baltimore. He fanned Ryan Flaherty to end the eighth inning for No. 300.
The last AL pitcher to fan 300 batters in a season was Boston's Pedro Martinez in 1999, when he set a club record with 313.
That’s strikeout No. 3⃣ 0⃣ 0⃣ for Sale❗️<br><br>Sale becomes 1st AL pitcher to reach 300 Ks in a season since Pedro Martinez in 1999.<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/SaleDay?src=hash">#SaleDay</a> <a href="https://t.co/pS7v1a7SaH">pic.twitter.com/pS7v1a7SaH</a>
—@RedSoxRed Sox manager John Farrell sent Sale back out for the eighth inning to give him a shot at getting No. 300.
Thing is, the left-hander had no idea he was at 299 when the inning started.
"No, I didn't," Sale said. "I went out there and struck out the last guy and everyone started losing it. I knew I was close, but I didn't know I needed just one more."
Sale allowed four hits and walked none in matching his career high for wins.
"A dominant performance after a year that has been a dominant one," Farrell said.
Sale joins elite company
Sale becomes the 14th different pitcher in the so-called Live Ball Era (1920-present) to total 300 strikeouts in a season.
It was his 10th scoreless outing of the season, tying the team record held by Babe Ruth (1916) and Martinez (2000 and 2002).
"It was fun. I felt good tonight," he said.
Sale faced a Baltimore lineup that was lacking two of its better hitters. Manny Machado was held out with an illness that manager Buck Showalter said the third baseman had been dealing with for nearly two weeks, and shortstop Tim Beckham was unavailable after having a wisdom tooth removed.
Not that it would have made much of a difference against Sale.
"He's one of the best pitchers in the game and couple in the fact that we're not really operating on all cylinders offensively, you end up with a shutout," Showalter said.