Chris Sale was headed out of the game anyway Carolina Panthers Jerseys Womens , so it didn’t matter if he received an ejection on his way to the dugout.
The important thing was that Sale was dominant through six innings, and the Boston Red Sox rode his performance to a 5-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday 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 .
”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 has 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 wasn’t 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,” manager Buck Showalter conceded.
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, came off the disabled list Monday after missing 14 games with an abdominal strain. He played Monday, was rested 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 Chicago Bears Jerseys Womens , and Martinez hit his team-leading 22nd homer in the seventh.
After placing Andrew Cashner (back) on the disabled list 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,” he 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 its lone run in the seventh, when Jace Peterson hit a sacrifice fly soon after Sale departed.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Red Sox: Cora said LHP Drew Pomeranz’s neck is sore and that the club would not plan for his return until after a weekend series in Seattle. Pomeranz originally went on the DL on June 5 with biceps tendinitis. … 2B Dustin Pedroia (left knee) has been doing some weight lifting but is staying away from baseball activities for now, Cora said.
Orioles: Orioles reliever Richard Bleier, one of the better performers on a ragged team, clutched his shoulder after throwing a pitch in the eighth inning and was immediately removed from the game. Asked for a prognosis, Bleier said, ”I have no idea. I don’t feel great right now.” Bleier is 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA over 31 appearances. … IF Tim Beckham (core muscle surgery) will begin a rehab assignment at Double-A Bowie on Friday, Showalter said.
UP NEXT
Red Sox: LHP David Price (7-4, 4.00 ERA) seeks his sixth straight win when Boston faces Mariners ace Felix Hernandez in the opener of a four-game series at Seattle.
Orioles: After taking Thursday off, Baltimore opens a three-game series against the visiting Miami Marlins in a matchup of last-place clubs.
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Two things, among many, have been consistent for the Patriots the past decade: Tom Brady at quarterback and New England in the AFC championship game.
Brady will try to lead his team to its seventh straight conference title game Saturday when it hosts the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round.
It has been a challenging week off the field for the Patriots following reports of turmoil involving Brady, coach Bill Belichick and team owner Robert Kraft. But Brady says he’s never doubted his team’s ability to compartmentalize potential distractions.
”I think we have a job to do and we know what our job is and that’s to go out and play football at a high level and play well,” he said. ”Nothing really should get in the way of that.”
Tennessee hasn’t been to a conference championship game since the 2002 season, but has been invigorated coming off its first playoff win in 14 years.
The Titans enter as 13-point underdog, but linebacker Derrick Morgan said it’s a role they happily embrace .
”Nobody respects us. Nobody really expects a lot from us. That’s fine,” he said. ”We haven’t been a very successful team in the last 10 years. So it’s easy for people to overlook us. So we’ve got to take care of business and start winning games like this to get the respect that we desire.”
Brady is 11-2 in 13 divisional-round games since 2002 , passing for 3,700 yards and 28 touchdowns.
He also has a 6-1 career record against the Titans with 13 touchdowns and just one interception.
Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota was mostly unflappable in leading his team back from an 18-point halftime deficit to beat Kansas City – the largest comeback on road in Super Bowl era.
But since 2001, quarterbacks making their first or second career playoff start are 0-7 against New England.
”When it comes down to it, it’s all about us,” Mariota said. ”I think that’s kind of been the mindset through this entire season. Ups and downs come and go, you just want to try and make the most of this opportunity.”
Some things to watch on Saturday:
MOVING ON UP: It will be Bill Belichick’s 37th career playoff game as a head coach, breaking a tie with Tom Landry and Don Shula for the most in NFL history.
HEISMAN BROTHERS: Mariota, the 2014 Heisman winner, and Derrick Henry, the 2015 Heisman winner, combined to turn in the best rushing performance in franchise history in the wild-card round. Henry ran for a career-high 156 yards, and Mariota added 46 yards. Henry will be starting his third straight game with DeMarco Murray already out (right knee).
PRESSURE: The Titans ranked fifth in the league with 43 sacks during the season and added four more against the Chiefs last week. Three-time Pro Bowl defensive lineman Jurrell Casey had six from his interior spot, while Morgan led the Titans with 7 + sacks. Linebackers Brian Orakpo (seven) and Wesley Woodyard (five) give the Titans a variety of options to attack Brady, not counting backup linebacker Erik Walden (four).
EXPERIENCE GAP: New England has 41 players with postseason experience, most of 2017 playoff teams. Fourteen Patriots players have played at least 10 playoff games. That’s more such players than 11 other playoff teams combined (13). Before the start of this postseason, the Titans had 18 players who had appeared in a playoff game.
BELICHICK and LEBEAU: There aren’t too many current NFL coaches that have been around the game longer than Belichick and Titans defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau .
LeBeau has an NFL-record 45 consecutive seasons as a coach, with Belichick at 43. Yet, with Belichick as head coach, he and LeBeau have faced off in the playoffs only once: the 2004 AFC championship game that New England won in Pittsburgh 41-27.
The respect between the two is mutual.
”Not very many coaches have the record coach Belichick’s gotten. In fact he’s probably closing in on the best ever,” LeBeau said.
Said Belichick: ”Coach LeBeau is as good as there is, as good a defensive coach as there is.”
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AP Football Writer Teresa Walker in Nashville contributed to this report.