ATLANTA — For the first time since 2016, Chris Sale will face the Red Sox on Wednesday night. And he’ll do so for the first time since Boston ended his seven-year tenure with the team by trading him to the Braves for second baseman Vaughn Grissom in December.
Manager Alex Cora joked that to be successful against Sale, the Red Sox needed to do what the Orioles did last year, when Baltimore tallied 19 earned runs and 25 hits off Sale in 17 innings (10.06 ERA).
Let’s take a look at the Orioles last year and hopefully, we can copy them,” Cora said. “We might’s go “O’s!” today. With him, it’s simple and it’s not. You’ve got to give one side of the plate, honestly, as righties. He goes a good job landing that slider early in the count, then he’s able to bury it. You’ve got to pick your poison. Either you look away. If you look in, you’ve got to be disciplined.”