HOUSTON -- Chris Sale will start Game 1 of the ALCS for the Red Sox on Friday night and Nathan Eovaldi will pitch Game 2 on Saturday afternoon, manager Alex Cora announced Thursday.
Eovaldi, who would be on regular rest for Game 1 after pitching Sunday, appeared to be the most likely candidate to open the series at Minute Maid Park. But Sale will get the surprising nod despite his recent struggles.
“It’s Chris Sale,” Cora said. “At one point he had to pitch in this series, and we’re very comfortable with him going tomorrow. I think the structure of the series and the structure of our bullpen tomorrow is going to be -- we’re going to be aggressive regardless.”
Cora said Sale will be used as a traditional starter and not as an opener. The club is hopeful Sale made the necessary adjustments in his bullpen sessions between starts after pitching just a combined 3 ⅓ innings over his last two starts.
“I don’t expect him to come out in the first inning,” Cora said. “I expect him to go out there and pitch a good game and give us a chance to win.”
Sale’s first postseason outing didn’t go as planned in Game 2 of the ALDS against the Rays, as he allowed five runs in one inning. He will pitch on a week of rest Friday night. Eovaldi, on the other hand, has been Boston’s best starter so far this postseason, posting a 2.61 ERA (3 earned runs in 10 ⅓ innings) over two outings. After dominating the Yankees in the AL Wild Card Game on Oct. 5, Eovaldi last pitched Sunday in Game 3 against Tampa Bay, holding the Rays to two runs on three hits in 5+ innings.
“I’ve been absolutely horrible,” Sale said. “Probably my two worst starts of my career back-to-back leading up to this. I know what I had to do in between. I know I had a job to do, and I knew I had work to get in. Following my last start in Tampa, I got off the mound every single day because I knew I had to get something going if we were going to be successful, and I know that I’m going to be a part of that. Trying to iron out some kinks and get back in a good rhythm and find it and just ride it out as long as I can.”
Cora did not announce a starter for Game 3, which will be held Monday at Fenway Park. Eduardo Rodriguez, Nick Pivetta and Tanner Houck are candidates to get starts depending on how Cora uses his bullpen early in the series.
“It’s a seven-game series,” Cora said. “You have to win four. Everybody has to be part of this. We feel comfortable with Chris with the rest that he got. And obviously giving Nate one more day is going to benefit. The off day, the structure of the bullpen tomorrow, so we should be okay.”
Astros manager Dusty Baker said Framber Valdez will start Game 1 for Houston and Luis Garcia will start Game 2. The Sox struggled against both young pitchers this year. Valdez shut them down twice in a six-day period in June, allowing a total of two runs in 14 ⅓ innings while recording 18 strikeouts. Garcia allowed one run in seven innings while striking out six in an Astros win on June 1.
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