Chris Sale just can’t seem to find any luck.
The Red Sox left-hander exited Sunday’s start against the Yankees in the first inning at Yankee Stadium after being struck by a line drive that fractured one of the fingers on his pitching hand. Sale suffered a left fifth finger (pinky) fracture, the team said.
The liner – which registered at 106.7 miles-per-hour off the bat of Yankees outfielder Aaron Hicks – sent Sale to the grass and scored another Yankees run to put them up 3-0. Sale got up and immediately left the field. He held up his visibly bent pinky finger to the Red Sox dugout before heading straight down the stairs and down the tunnel to the clubhouse.
Sale was making his second start since coming back from a stress fracture in his right rib cage that had kept him out the first three months of the season. The lefty’s recent injury history is well-documented. He missed all of 2020 and most of 2021 as he recovered from Tommy John surgery before suffering the stress fracture in February. He now faces the prospect of missing even more time.
