Red Sox starting pitcher Chris Sale walks off the mound after being hit in the left hand by a line drive in the first inning against the Yankees on Sunday in New York. Julia Nikhinson/Associated Press
NEW YORK — A fast glance at his finger told Red Sox lefty Chris Sale, sadly, all he needed to know.
Broken pinkie finger on his pitching hand, damaged by a line drive. Another setback for Boston’s injury-plagued ace, his future for the rest of the season uncertain.
Sale screamed out in pain Sunday after being struck by Aaron Hicks’ 106.7-mph liner with two outs in the first inning at Yankee Stadium. The ball deflected into right field for an RBI single that gave New York a 3-0 lead. The Yankees went on to a 13-2 win in the final game before the All-Star break.
“One look at this finger, I knew (it was broken) immediately,” Sale said. “That feeling of just that kind of cold water rushing through your body when something like that happens. I soon as I hit the ground, I looked down, the finger is gone.”
Sale immediately ran off the field, holding up his fractured finger.
The seven-time All-Star was to see a hand specialist in Boston later Sunday or Monday.
Sale, 33, was making his second start since returning from a fractured rib. He threw 78 pitches in five scoreless innings Tuesday at Tampa Bay, and tossed 24 pitches against the Yankees before being forced to leave.
“We really felt bad about it,” New York ace Gerrit Cole said. “It’s well documented how hard he works and what he’s had to overcome to put himself in this position.
“It’s a good thing he’s got the tenacity that he has to continue. He’s got all the high character qualities that you’re going to need to have to overcome something like this. It’s just so unfortunate that he didn’t even get a foothold before it happened,” he said.
Sale, who is signed through 2024 in a five-year, $145 million deal, has thrown just 48 1/3 innings for the Red Sox since the end of the 2019 season.
He missed the entire 2020 season after Tommy John surgery, and made only nine starts last season going 5-1 with a 3.16 ERA.
This spring, Sale broke a rib while working out on his own during the MLB lockout.
After scoring 14 runs against the Red Sox on Saturday night, the Yankees unloaded again, feasting on Boston’s bullpen after Sale was forced out of the game.
Matt Carpenter had an RBI groundout during the three-run first inning against Sale and added a two-run double in an eight-run fourth. Carpenter drove in 10 runs over the final two games of the series and has 34 RBI in 31 games since joining the Yankees on May 26.
Tim Locastro hit a two-run homer off Jake Diekman in the fourth. On the one-year anniversary of suffering a torn ACL in his right knee crashing into a wall in foul territory against Boston, Locastro went 3 for 5 and stole two bases.
Joey Gallo also had a two-run homer, and Aaron Judge singled twice and finished the first half with a major league-leading 33 homers – tied with Roger Maris for the franchise record before the break.
Judge, Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu were hit by pitches after Cole brushed back Boston’s Rafael Devers in first inning. LeMahieu was in considerable pain after being hit in the left elbow in the eighth inning and left the game, but Manager Aaron Boone said there wasn’t an injury concern.
Cole (9-2) dusted Devers off the plate with a low, 99 mph fastball on his first pitch to the third baseman after allowing two homers to him July 7 in Boston. Devers glared at Cole from the dirt, then struck out swinging at a high fastball.
Cole struck out 12 allowed two runs and three hits over seven innings for his fourth straight win.
The Yankees reached double-digit runs for the 16th time – no other team has more than 10 such games – and cruised into the All-Star break with a major league-best record of 64-28. Their 64 wins matched the 2018 Astros for third-most prior to the break since the All-Star Game began in 1933.
Devers went 0 for 3 after homering on the first pitch he saw in the previous two games.
“I don’t think I figured him out,” Cole said of Devers, who has been a thorn in the ace’s side. “I think I just executed the pitches that I wanted to execute today, and I think we sequenced better than we did last time.“
The Yankees reached double-digit runs for the 16th time – no other team has more than 10 such games – and cruised into the All-Star break with a major league-best record of 64-28. Their 64 wins matched the 2018 Astros for third-most prior to the break since the All-Star Game began in 1933.
LeMahieu and Judge started New York’s big fourth inning with RBI singles, then scored on Carpenter’s double.
Rookie Jeter Downs hit a two-run homer off Cole in the third inning and also singled. The homer was his first in the majors.
The Red Sox finished the first half on a 6-14 slide, dropping 16 1/2 games behind the Yankees in the AL East.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: Left-hander Rich Hill (left knee sprain) threw 35 pitches in a bullpen session Saturday.
Yankees: Right-hander Ron Marinaccio (right shoulder inflammation) struck out two and threw 23 pitches in his first rehab appearance for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes Barre.
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