Sale flops again as Dodgers rout Red Sox

Chris Sale failed to last through the fifth inning as the Dodgers finally tasted victory over their most recent World Series foes. David Freese’s two-run double was the last straw as Los Angeles chased Sale early in an 11-2 shellacking on Saturday night.

BOSTON -- All the trade deadline finagling in the world isn’t going to fix Chris Sale.

 The projected Red Sox ace has gone wayward in 2019, particularly on his home diamond at Fenway Park. It’s now been more than a calendar year since Sale has recorded a regular-season victory here, and Saturday’s performance did little to suggest a turnaround is approaching.

 Sale failed to last through the fifth inning as the Dodgers finally tasted victory over their most recent World Series foes. David Freese’s two-run double was the last straw as Los Angeles chased Sale early in an 11-2 shellacking on Saturday night.

 It’s only the third time this season Sale has come up short of 15 outs in a start. His 4 2/3 frames included seven hits allowed and five earned runs, and his record fell to 3-9. The Rangers were the last non-October opponents beaten here by Sale, and that 4-2 win came on July 11, 2018.

 “I think it’s about execution,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Velocity was good. I think the secondary pitches were good early. After that we didn’t execute pitches and they took advantage of it.”

 A.J. Pollock’s RBI single in the top of the first and Justin Turner’s solo home run to left in the third were a pair of early cracks. The Dodgers busted the door wide open in the fifth when Kiké Hernandez singled through the left side and Austin Barnes was hit by a pitch. That turned things over to the top of the Los Angeles order with nobody out, and the visitors pounced.

 Chris Taylor drove a sacrifice fly to deep center and Turner ripped an RBI double to the corner in left, making it a 3-1 game. Freese found the same corner with a bullet inside the bag at third, opening the lead to 5-1. Cora was quickly out of the Boston dugout and Sale hung his head while making the slow walk to the clubhouse.

 “He came out in the first inning right away – 94 (mph), 95, there were some 97s,” Cora said. "Seemed like his slider was playing early in the game. Then halfway through it the at-bats got better.”

 Sale seemed to be finding something beginning with his April 23 outing against the Tigers. His next 11 starts including that night featured just 44 hits allowed in 72 1/3 innings and a 2.24 earned-run average. Sale has been hammered to the tune of a 7.59 ERA in his last four outings, and the Red Sox have won just one of those games.

 “I’m going out there every fifth day and getting my (backside) kicked,” Sale said. “What do you think? It’s not fun. I’m still working, still grinding – I’m not going to give up. But it’s tough going out there every day and being a liability for your team.”

 Los Angeles buried Boston with four more runs in the seventh, another in the eighth and one more in the ninth. Back-to-back solo home runs by Cody Bellinger and Pollock softened up Steven Wright, and a defensive calamity in the infield allowed Max Muncy to score all the way from first. Barnes sent a generous RBI triple off Andrew Benintendi’s glove in deep left and it was 9-1.

 Wright left the game with a right foot contusion after Muncy’s rocket back to the box, and Ryan Brasier surrendered a lone run on a double to left by Turner and a sacrifice fly to center by Bellinger. The right fielder celebrated his 24th birthday by adding more fuel to his National League Most Valuable Player case, finishing 2-for-4 with a run scored and two RBI. Muncy provided the exclamation point with a solo shot to center against Hector Velazquez.

 Xander Bogaerts cranked a solo homer to left in the bottom of the fourth and looped an RBI single to right against former teammate Joe Kelly in the sixth. That was all Boston had to show on offense against Los Angeles, who rode Ross Stripling through the first five innings and the combination of Julio Urias and JT Chargois for the final three. Stripling needed just 68 pitches to record 15 outs and Urias worked a pair of 1-2-3 frames to set up Chargois, who polished things off with a perfect ninth.