Chris Sale refused to answer this press conference question today
With the New York Yankees beating the Oakland Athletics in last night’s AL Wild Card Game, the stage is now set for an epic ALDS between the Yanks and their rivals, the Boston Red Sox.
The two teams haven’t met in the postseason since 2004, when the Red Sox rallied from a 3-0 deficit in the ALCS and snapped the infamous “Curse of the Bambino.” Boston would go on to win its first World Series since 1918.
The Red Sox won an MLB-high 108 games this season, but it won’t matter if they can’t beat the Yankees in the playoffs. In order to win this series, Boston needs a big performance from its ace, Chris Sale.
Sale has struggled in the playoffs in the past, but one thing might bode well for him this year is his recent success against New York. In two starts against the Yankees this season, Sale is 2-0, surrendering only nine hits and one run while striking out 19 in 13 innings pitched.
See the ace through the years:
Still, the veteran lefty doesn’t want to think about any of that, and he certainly doesn’t want to talk about it. Sale flat refused to talk about his pair of quality outings against the Bronx Bombers when he was asked about them today.
"Talk about your success against the Yankees this year"
"No"
Chris Sale's a savagepic.twitter.com/wRBKlq7Bkg— Starting 9 (@Starting9) October 4, 2018
That’s an example of a guy who knows the slate has been wiped clean for the playoffs. Every team is 0-0 at this point.
Sale will get the ball in Game 1 for the Red Sox tomorrow, presumably against Yankees lefty J.A. Happ. He is lined up to start a potential Game 5, but could potentially start Game 4 on short rest if needed.
The Yankees and Red Sox will get underway tomorrow night at 7:32 p.m. ET on TBS.
Related: Each playoff team's odds of winning the World Series:
