Sale (12-2) gave up just one run on four hits and a walk and struck out nine over seven innings in a win Tuesday over the Red Sox.
Sale struggled over his past five starts, in which he allowed 20 runs in 29.2 innings (6.07 ERA), but he was still racking up the strikeouts with 31 in that span, so it was only a matter of time before he figured it out. He induced 14 swinging strikes in 111 pitches as he looked as nasty as ever. He's now up to 102 strikeouts in 105 innings, but he's still on pace for his first season with fewer strikeouts than innings pitched since he came up to the majors in 2010.