Sale (14-5) took the loss in an eight-inning complete game Wednesday against the Tigers. He allowed two runs on six hits and one walk while striking out 10.
Through Sale's first 17 starts of the year, the White Sox went 14-3; however, in the southpaw's last four outings, the team is 0-4. Of course not all of this can be put on Sale, but he hasn't exactly helped the cause throughout the losing streak. Over his last four games, the 27-year old has averaged three walks per nine, solidly above his BB/9 average on the season, and holds a 4.00 ERA during the skid. In his defense, Sale had one major blow up against the Braves (eight runs on ten hits over five innings) that skew the numbers, and he's actually lowered his ERA despite going 0-3 since July 8. In addition, Sale put together a string of three straight quality starts with nothing to show for his efforts. When you dissect all of this, you'll see the diagnosis doesn't have as much to do with the pitcher as it does with the White Sox anemic offense that has been a bottom-feeder in the AL for runs scored since June. Sale remains a Cy Young candidate in every sense of the term. He ranks in the AL's top five for wins, strikeouts, complete games, WHIP and innings pitched.