Chris Sale was headed out of the game anyway, so it did not matter if he received an ejection on his way to the dugout.
The important thing was that Sale was dominant through six innings on Wednesday, and the Boston Red Sox rode his performance to a 5-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles for a three-game sweep.
After issuing two walks to open the seventh in a 5-0 game, Sale (6-4) was lifted by manager Alex Cora. As he was making his way to the dugout, the left-hander yelled at home plate umpire Brian Knight and was promptly ejected.
Photo: AP
“There are going to be points in the season, points in the game where stuff happens,” Sale said. “No one’s perfect. Obviously I lost my cool a little bit. That’s going to happen, too.”
It was the second career ejection for Sale, the other coming in April 2015, when he was with the White Sox.
“I like competing. When I feel like I’m getting something taken away from me, I get emotional,” Sale said. “At the end of the day, hey, we’re human, stuff is going to happen.”
Sale struck out nine, allowed one run and gave up two hits in ending a run of three straight losing starts.
Baltimore have lost seven straight and 14 of 16. The last time the Orioles scored more than five runs in a game was May 24, and it sure was not going to happen against Sale.
“It’s a bad combination, we’re not swinging the bat well and facing as good a pitcher as him,” Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said.
Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez homered for the Red Sox, who are 9-1 against the Orioles this season.
Betts, the major league leader in batting average, on Monday came off the disabled list after missing 14 games with an abdominal strain.
He played on Monday, was rested on Tuesday and returned to the top of the lineup in the series finale.
Betts hit a 3-2 pitch from Yefry Ramirez over the center-field wall in the third for his 18th home run.
“The quality of his at-bats are incredible for not playing, what, two weeks?” Cora said. “I mean, the guy’s talented.”
A three-run fifth made it 4-0, and Martinez hit his team-leading 22nd homer in the seventh.
After placing Andrew Cashner (back) on the disabled list on Tuesday, the Orioles recalled Ramirez from Triple-A Norfolk to make his major league debut. The 24-year-old left with the score 1-0 in the fifth, but Mike Wright allowed both inherited runners to score.
Ramirez had no complaints.
“I felt awesome, excited, happy to be here,” Ramirez said. “It’s been an opportunity that I’ve been waiting for 12 years. Now, it’s finally here.”
Ramirez (0-1) gave up three runs and four hits over 4-1/3 innings, striking out six.
Baltimore got their lone run in the seventh, when Jace Peterson hit a sacrifice fly soon after Sale departed.
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