Tony Lee, Special to ESPN.com 9y

White Sox ace Chris Sale shoulders blame for streak-busting defeat

BOSTON -- Chris Sale took one on the leg in the first inning Thursday night at Fenway Park. Hours later he took the blame for the only blemish on a spectacular eight-game road trip for the Chicago White Sox.

“It sucks, really. We were playing great,” said the White Sox ace after he gave up seven runs in five-plus innings of an 8-2 loss to the Boston Red Sox. “We have 24 guys in here that didn’t deserve tonight. I should’ve been better for them. At least we know the reason why we lost this game.”

Sale allowed a career-high 12 hits, the first of which was a line drive off of Xander Bogaerts' bat that caught the tall left-hander on his left thigh. After a visit from manager Robin Ventura and trainer Herm Schneider, as well as a few practice pitches, Sale continued. He said later that the incident did not affect his performance. However, he never was able to display the dominance his teammates have come to expect.

The end result, which also included two hit batters and a walk, seemed to stun Sale.

“It’s almost so bad you forget about it,” he said. “This one’s going to be forgotten before I even walk out of the door tonight. It was so bad that you just don’t want ... just throw it in the garbage. Move on, I’ll be ready next time.”

Sale said the line drive caught him in the muscular portion of his thigh. While there may be bruising, there was never concern over any structural issues or a need to receive any imaging. He allowed an RBI double to David Ortiz later in the first (the only extra-base hit among the 12 knocks) but also fanned the side and faced the minimum over the next two frames.

A single and a walk in the fourth was perhaps the first sign of a crack in the foundation. Sale hit one man and allowed three straight singles in the fifth to let Boston take the lead, then permitted the first five batters to reach in the sixth before Ventura had seen enough.

It was quite an aberration for a pitcher who had a 2.02 ERA over his last eight road starts, including a strong effort five days ago in Cleveland. That’s how Sale’s teammates view the outing, despite the lefty’s insistence on shouldering the blame.

“You’ve got to respect that he thinks that way and puts it on his shoulders, but this was a great road trip,” designated hitter Adam LaRoche said. “He’s won plenty of games for us and will continue to do so.

“Still, awesome road trip. Something we haven’t done consistently yet this year. To see that for more than one or two games was great. More than we could ask for going into it.”

That’s what gnaws at Sale. Had he been himself, an “awesome road trip” could have been historic. Only once in their long history had the White Sox recorded a perfect road trip of eight games of more, that being an 11-0 voyage early in 1951, when they wound up finishing 17 games behind the New York Yankees. This current edition, now three games shy of the second wild-card spot, is in greater need of momentum.

Sale felt that need.

“We know the reason why we lost this game and it was me,” he said. “This was my game to wear. I wish I could’ve been better for them. To deflate my guys in the middle of a game, right in the heart of a game, it’s tough.”

The White Sox hit .332 with 11 home runs and got five quality starts in the 7-0 stretch before Thursday’s loss. The near-perfect excursion transformed Chicago’s stance at the trade deadline and reinvigorated a bunch that, as Ventura put it earlier in the series, had been “left for dead.”

The hope is that the momentum is not lost by one rough night as the club transitions into a six-game homestand.

“You wish you could go home flying tonight winning this game, but it’s a good road trip. Guys will look at that more than they will tonight when they come in tomorrow,” Ventura said, adding that he does not anticipate any major changes ahead of the trade deadline Friday afternoon. “Flying home, same guys. Show up with the same guys tomorrow.”

That includes Sale, who may have a little extra motivation when he takes the mound again in five days.

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