Braves' Chris Sale Sends Message After Dominating Red Sox In Fenway Park Return

If it ever seems as if the Chris Sale trade has already inflicted the maximum amount of possible pain on the Boston Red Sox, it's best to recalculate.

Sale was traded from the Red Sox to the Atlanta Braves for infielder Vaughn Grissom before the 2024 season, and immediately went on to win the Cy Young Award for the first time in his career at age 35. He also dominated the Red Sox in Atlanta last May, throwing six scoreless innings in a Braves victory.

On Friday night, Sale pitched at Fenway Park for the first time since the trade. He outdueled new Boston ace Garrett Crochet, tossing seven innings and allowing just one run, a Rob Refsnyder solo home run, in a 4-2 Braves victory.

Though the acquisition of Crochet has helped numb some of the sting of losing Sale, it still wasn't fun for the Red Sox to be dominated by an old friend. And after the game, Sale made it clear that he relished the chance to pitch in a place that will always be meaningful to his career.

“I love it here,” Sale said after the game, per Sean McAdam of MassLive. “There’s no secret there. I’ve always enjoyed, even when I was with Chicago, coming here and playing. I spent seven years and had some really good moments and I appreciate this place for what it is.”

"It’s like walking into your childhood home. You just have a lot of memories that you built, a lot of relationships that you still have and appreciate. Again, you just try to push all of those to the wayside and do your job. The ceremony stops at pitch one. No one’s giving in or giving up or thinking about anything other than winning and doing their job. So I kind of had to do the same.”

Sale got off to a slow start this year, but he's been brilliant in his last five starts, posting a 1.72 ERA. That's brought his season ERA back down to a 3.62 mark, and the lefty has an impressive 72 strikeouts in only 54 2/3 innings pitched.

The Red Sox are searching for answers, as Sale handed them their fourth straight loss to drop Boston to 22-24 on the season. Game two of the series with Atlanta begins at 7:15 p.m. Saturday evening.