Game 1 of the ALDS against the Houston Astros did not go according to plan for Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale.
Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning, and Altuve added another in the fifth, contributing to an all around rough outing from Sale.
Chris Sale's line; 5+ IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. He threw 100 pitches, 63 strikes.
— Jake Kaplan (@jakemkaplan) October 5, 2017
Naturally, Twitter had some thoughts on Sale’s less than stellar start.
Chris Sale Final Line… 5IP 9H 7ER #Postseason pic.twitter.com/LwrV74xoqa
— Matt M (@mcmcaley) October 5, 2017
More like cHRis sale amirite
— Mike Axisa (@mikeaxisa) October 5, 2017
Chris Sale once cut up his teams jerseys cause he didn’t like them. Did anyone think he had the mentality to be a postseason pitcher?
— KoDiddly (@KoDiddly) October 5, 2017
Me watching Chris Sale give up dinger after dinger pic.twitter.com/aw0t9y7p8t
— Pinstripe Alley (@pinstripealley) October 5, 2017
RT if Jose Altuve is Chris Sale’s daddy
— Astros 2024 Champs (@AstrosOptimism2) October 5, 2017
https://twitter.com/BarstoolJJ/status/916061450787020801
Of course, no conversation about a left-handed ace struggling in the playoffs would be complete without mention of Clayton Kershaw.
https://twitter.com/tylerroope/status/916073853956243456
Playoff Chris Sale meets Playoff Clayton Kershaw pic.twitter.com/hTfKgihBkc
— MLB Memes (@MLBMeme) October 5, 2017
It hardly seems right to heckle Kershaw in a game he’s not even playing in. Kershaw will get his chance to reverse that narrative on Friday.
Sale will certainly look for redemption later in the series — assuming he gets the chance.