Highlights of the 19-3 Red Sox win against the Orioles

BOSTON – There are bets that do not make sense for the teams.

Feel that you are dependent on Tyler Thornburg without having a substitute for insurance if he has not physically resisted, for example. It never made sense. Thornburg is now over for the year, said Cora on Wednesday. The planning of the oxen of the Sox continues to appear as anarchic as the duties of ninth grade algebra done 30 minutes before the course.

In the rotation, the choice to form Chris Sale with only a few outings before the playoffs has always been a risky bet. The plan has been fraught with risk and the risk is now coming under the eyes of everyone. Rust. Speed ​​of descent

From now on, his regular season is over and he does not look like the dominant pitcher who started the all-star game and has consistently pitched in the top 90. Wednesday against the Orioles, the southpaw allowed three points in 4 2/3 innings. He wrote off eight players, but he occasionally ran out of his slider and his appearance was generally different from his own. Not only in its speed, but in its delivery.

Maybe a little more time would not hurt the spotlight? We can never know.

But whatever the outcome – and it could still work for Sale and the Sox – this bet made sense. There was a performance story and a recent shoulder injury for the Red Sox to face. They wanted to do their best to protect the health and longevity of a pitcher who had experienced difficulties in the second period before and had struggled last October.

"The only thing we did not accomplish during the plan was to go to [six] the sleeves, which are the ups and downs, which is very important for her body, "said Cora. "But other than that, I think from a pitch perspective, we went from 75 or whatever the last one to [92]. So now, everyone throws 90 and 100 throws, so we're on the right track. "

Well, not exactly. According to Cora's assessment, Sale did not seem to appear on Wednesday.

"Not very good, we saw it," said the manager in general. "We were talking just now, as soon as I took him out, he came here to the video room, there seems to be something mechanical." He does not pull his hips as he normally does.

"We do not have too much time, so he's going to be working on it this weekend, and probably on Monday, he'll launch an aggressive enclosure and see where he is and we'll leave from there."

The sale hit 94 mph on Wednesday, but it was also sitting closer to 90-91 mph, as low as ever in a registered start.

"I saw things last week and even tonight, but I did not really get out of my lower half and I really created this couple," Sale said. "We now have a lot of time to understand what we need to do and we will start from there."

The sale could trigger hell on October 5 at Fenway Park in the first match of the ALDS. But if it does not, it means that only the bet has failed: not that the bet was stupid.

There was an alternative. Dirty could have returned to the game earlier because he had bursitis in his left shoulder. But the Sox did not need him to win the most victories in franchise history and the best record for the majors. The team was therefore cautious.

"First of all, we will respect everything that can happen [physically]"Said coach Dana LeVangie. "And then we will make our way through these progressions. Despite where we were at the time, it's not like we were panicking because Chris Sale was not there.

As described by Sale, he remained largely outside of these scheduling choices.

"It was never really mine," said Sale. "I showed up daily and did my job, started and did what I had to do to prepare myself. We were able to take a little longer than we normally could. Obviously, my team put us in this position. "

In other words: the sale would have been launched if requested. That's to be expected from him (and most throwers, but mostly from him).

"We will stay patient and allow him to rebuild," LeVangie said. "You will ask any player and every player must answer that way. Are you good at throwing? & # 39; Yes I'm fine. & # 39;

"Yeah, but at what price?"

The sale was firm Wednesday that his health is not the problem, but the mechanics.

"I think it's pretty obvious when you break it down and look at it," Sale said.

LeVangie and Sale had worked in the same direction at the beginning.

"If you strive too hard in your body and try to open your hips to get an extension through the ball, you'll lose speed," LeVangie said.

The Sox will discuss whether Sale faces hitters at one point. He could run a simulation game or something like that.

He could throw a miss in game 1 or a gem. In any case, the Sox were justified to follow this path. A faster return could have created a series of different problems.