It's been a rough night for the A.L. pitching staff, or at least two of its pitchers. But Chicago White Sox P Chris Sale did not fall victim to the same ills as did Detroit Tigers P Justin Verlander or Texas Rangers P Matt Harrison. As scheduled, Sale came in to pitch the top of the sixth for the A.L. and put up a scoreless inning to keep the score at 8-0.
Sale first faced St. Louis Cardinals SS Rafael Furcal, who, despite already amassing two hits on the night, flied out to center field. Sale then gave up back-to-back singles to Chipper Jones of the Atlanta Braves and Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates, before getting Jay Bruce of the Cincinnati Reds to fly out and David Freese of the St. Louis Cardinals to strikeout.
Paul Konerko entered the game in the bottom of the sixth and reached after being hit by an R.A. Dickey knuckleball.
For more news and updates from around the league, drop by Baseball Nation with Rob Neyer. And for a closer look at the numbers and analysis behind the game, visit the sabermetrics blog Beyond the Box Score or keep up to date with the league's transactions at MLB Daily Dish.
