Bosox Board

The lefty ace pitches against his former team for the first time
since the trade that brought him to the Red Sox back in December.
In 117 career appearances at Guaranteed Rate Field, Sale is 42-24
with a 3.01ERA.  He has 101 K's in 73 frames in '17.

It appears to be one of the true marquee matchups of the season when
Quintana goes against Chris Sale, his friend and former teammate.  Quintana
and Sale pitched as part of the same rotation from 2012-16, before Sale
was traded to the Red Sox.

How is Chris Sale going to feel when he walks on that familiar mound at Guaranteed Rate Field as a visitor for the first time?

The star lefty, who is now the ace for the Red Sox, will let you know after he actually does it on Tuesday night.

"I'm excited to see," said Sale. "Obviously this is my first time back throwing here. I'm sure it will be a little bit different. I'm excited for it. I'm looking forward to it."

A cornerstone for the White Sox from 2010-16, Sale is now dominating for the other Sox, taking a 5-2 record and 2.34 ERA into Tuesday's start against former teammate Jose Quintana, who is struggling (2-6, 4.82 ERA) in his first season as Chicago's No. 1 pitcher.

"I have just one game, and I have my focus on throwing the ball well for my team, to get a W," said Quintana. "That's my focus every time, to do my job. It will be a different feeling because I'm pitching against him, but I don't want to pay attention to the other team. I just want to do my job."

Once Quintana gets on the mound, he will be all business. But the lefty did take some time to reflect on Monday about the influence Sale had on him.

"Yeah, I miss him," Quintana said. "He was one of my best teammates ever that I played with. I understand it was part of the game. It's a business and that happens. I miss his energy. We have a lot of guys here with energy too, but I miss the energy he had every time we talked in the dugout, watching the game."

Sale's energy will be on full display in his first matchup with the team that traded him in December, and it will be interesting to see the way it manifests itself. As a starter at Guaranteed Rate Field, Sale is 40-23 with a 2.95 ERA.

"I'm playing against my friends," said Sale. "It might be hard to not smile out there on the mound at a couple of them. It's fun. These are my buddies. It's going to be a fun atmosphere and a fun time. Just go out there and play the same game. It's just against some guys I know a little better."

Perhaps there is nobody Sale knows better with the White Sox than his former pitching coach Don Cooper, who was with him his entire career until the trade.

"Oh, there's no question he's getting better," said Cooper. "Listen, for his time here, he put up Hall of Fame numbers, other than maybe the win column. If you do that for a handful of more years, well, he's going to put himself in position to possibly be a Hall of Famer someday if he stays healthy, and I think he will."

Red Sox manager John Farrell now has the benefit of being able to send Sale to the mound every fifth day.

"He's about one thing, and that's winning," said Farrell. "We're grateful he's in our uniform. He's off to a fantastic start for us. Chris has been everything and more than what we could have hoped."

White Sox fans had their chance to applaud Sale prior to the bottom of the first inning on Monday, when a video montage was played on the scoreboard. Sale acknowledged the roars from the crowd.

"I worked really hard when I was here and I tried to give them everything I had, honestly," said Sale. "That's all you can basically do in this sport. Two things, attitude and effort, those are the only two things you can control and I tried to give them everything I had, so I hope they appreciated what I did for them as much as I appreciated what they did for me."
THREE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT THIS GAME

• Red Sox first baseman Sam Travis, who was called up for his Major League debut last week, has the thrill of playing in his home state in this series. Travis grew up a White Sox fan. With another lefty starting Tuesday in Quintana, Travis could make his second straight start.

• White Sox left fielder Melky Cabrera has had a tough time against Sale in his career, going 1-for-11. Jackie Bradley Jr. has fared well against Quintana, going 4-for-11.

• Interestingly, the road team has had the upper hand in recent Red Sox-White Sox matchups. Since the start of the 2014 season, the Red Sox are 3-0-0 in series played in Chicago, and the White Sox are 2-0-1 at Fenway.

http://m.mlb.com/news/article/20170529233108162/sale-away-lefty-facing-chicago-for-first-time/?game_pk=490876