Red Sox: No run support is wasting Chris Sale starts

Chris Sale has been tremendous this year for the Red Sox but his run support has not. Numbers show the Red Sox are wasting games Sale pitches.

Another Chris Sale game has been wasted due to lack of run support. This has been a consistent theme with the Red Sox since Sale has arrived in Boston. The Red Sox are wasting opportunities to win games to stay ahead in the close race for the AL East division.

Sale has started 16 games this year. Six of those games he has received two runs or less. When Sale is on the mound you can not waste those opportunities, you need to capitalize on them. Sale has struck out double-digit batters five times this year and the Red Sox are 1-4 in those games. Sale is arguably the best pitcher in baseball and the Red Sox have wasted some of his best starts of the year.

The Red Sox record in his 16 starts is 8-8. The point of trading for Sale was to get an ace who can win you games. He has done that numerous times this year but he can’t do it all by himself. In the month of June, Sale is 1-2 with a 2.67 ERA. This includes the game where the Red Sox lost 1-0 to the White Sox when he pitched eight innings with 10 strikeouts giving up one earned run. Give Sale run support against the Chicago White Sox and the Minnesota Twins the other night, his record is now looking 3-1 for the month of June. 

Only two starts this year has been a poor performance by Sale. The Astros and Braves games, that’s it. The Red Sox offense is capable of producing runs but the bats seem to go quiet when Sale is pitching. It’s something that has been a problem for over a year now and until they score runs for Sale fans be critical of this issue.

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It’s tough to watch quality performances go to waste especially with the tight division race. You don’t want to play in the wild card play-in game. There’s still plenty of starts left for Sale this year, let’s hope the run support will be there.