Despite what the White Sox have led you to believe over the last two weeks, pitching duels are still possible.
This Memorial showdown featured two of the best young lefties in baseball in Matt Moore and Chris Sale. They both lived up to the hype, but Sale was just on another level today. Sale struck out 15, one shy of a White Sox record. He does now hold a Tropicana Field record, breaking Pedro Martinez’s mark of 15 in 1999.
This outing shows why Kenny Williams quickly dismissed any thoughts of putting the young lefty in the bullpen after a brief injury scare. His stuff is far too electric to waste away in the bullpen. Sale had all three pitches working today, especially the slider as he struck out seven of the first ten batters faced.
The 15th punch out came at the biggest point of the game. With the tying run on third, Sale struck out Jose Molina with a 96 mph fastball.
Chicks dig the long ball, but I dig the fastball. Pitchers were king today in a great duel that was a lot of fun to watch. Matt Moore was almost as good, striking out 10 in his seven innings inning of work, but he made one mistake and paid for it dearly. Adam Dunn launched a fastball deep into the galaxy and we are still waiting for it to land. The two run moonshot put the White Sox up 2-1 and Sale would take it from there.
Chris Sale is quickly establishing himself as a true number one and the only thing that can derail this train is injury. There will always be worries about whether or not his frame can hold up, but you cannot predict an injurt. Let’s cross that bridge if we ever come to it.
The White Sox have now won six straight and remain a half game behind the Indians. This is the best they have looked in a long time Sox fans, enjoy the ride for however long it lasts.
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