A Tree Falls....

A tree falls in the forest, and there’s no one around for miles.  Does the tree make a sound, is its passing mourned?  Chris Sale enters Hall of Fame company and could stand alone there after his next start.  Will Robin Ventura know, will anyone tell him?

Last night, Sale struck out 14 batters while shutting out the Rangers on two hits over eight innings.  He joins Pedro Martinez and Randy Johnson as the only pitchers in major-league history to have struck out 12 or more hitters in five straight starts.  If the 26-year old lefty does it again in his next start against the Twins, Martinez and Johnson will have to look up to him.

Sale threw 111 pitches and wanted to start the ninth inning, with the Rangers number-nine hitter leading off.  The Rangers most likely would have gone with a right-handed pinch hitter before left-handed leadoff batter Shin-Soo Choo stepped in.  Were the Rangers feeling lucky?  We’ll never know because Sox manager Robin Ventura brought in his closer, David Robertson, who proceeded to cough up the lead and lose the game, 2-1.  Way to go, Robin.

Think about it for a moment.  The crowd is pumped, and you have to think Sale is, too, with a chance for three more strikeouts; if he fans the side, he breaks the record for most strikeouts by a Sox pitcher that dates to 1954.  But the manager decides otherwise.  The proof’s in the pudding, as they say.  It’s time to go, Robin, I say.