Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale will miss his scheduled start Sunday against the Chicago White Sox after testing positive for COVID-19, according to Chris Cotillo of Masslive.
The left-hander is the latest member of the Red Sox the virus has sidelined during an outbreak that's affected at least 12 players and personnel.
Sale returned from Tommy John surgery last month and has since authored a 2.52 ERA and 3.92 FIP over five starts for the playoff-hopeful Red Sox.
Boston holds a one-game lead on the New York Yankees and is 1 1/2 games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays while currently occupying the top AL wild-card spot with an 80-62 record.
The Red Sox are one of the MLB teams that haven't reached the 85% vaccination threshold, and the league relaxes some pandemic protocols at that point. Xander Bogaerts, Matt Barnes, Nick Pivetta, Enrique Hernandez, Danny Santana, Christian Arroyo, and Martin Perez are among the players who have been sidelined during the club's outbreak.