Chris Sale was pitching against his former team on Friday, and that may have motivated him to unleash the fastest pitch of his career.
During the fifth inning of the game between the Boston Red Sox and Chicago White Sox, Sale summoned a little extra on a fastball to Daniel Palka. The radar gun at Fenway Park clocked the pitch at 100.3 mph, which registers as the fastest pitch of Sale’s MLB career.
100.3 mph!
That's Chris Sale's fastest pitch EVER. pic.twitter.com/2XQRbdHwPY
— MLB (@MLB) June 9, 2018
As MLB’s Statcast points out, the pitch was the fastest strikeout pitch by any starter this season.
Chris Sale is throwing tonight!
The @RedSox ace notches the fastest strikeout pitch by a starter in 2018 with this 100.3 mph heater to Daniel Palka. pic.twitter.com/d2WLeDWfTp
— #Statcast (@statcast) June 9, 2018
Sale hit triple digits on more than one occasion during his outing. He struck out 10 over eight innings but was the hard luck loser in Boston’s 1-0 defeat.
It wasn’t quite the ridiculous velocity that St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Jordan Hicks accomplished earlier this season, but Sale certainly turned up the heat against his former team.
