G64: White Sox 1, Red Sox 0

White Sox - 000 000 100 - 1  6  1
Red Sox   - 000 000 000 - 0  3  0

It turns out that Chris Sale did need to throw a shutout for the Red Sox to have a chance on Friday night. He came close (8-6-1-1-10, 109) but a leadoff ground-rule double came around to score in the seventh on a one-out single. Meanwhile, a less-than-ideal Boston lineup managed only three hits and one walk. Time of game: 2:24.

It was only the second time this season that the Red Sox have been shutout. The first whitewash came on April 21, when Oakland's Sean Manaea pitched a no-hitter. That was also the only Boston game this year to be played quicker than this one (2:16). Sale was the hard-luck loser on that day, too. The Red Sox are 7-7 in his starts. (Last year, they were 22-10.)

The Red Sox had something going in the first inning. Andrew Benintendi doubled and Brock Holt walked. But Dylan Covey (6-3-0-1-7, 83) struck out Xander Bogaerts and got Mitch Moreland to ground into a first-pitch, 3-6-1 double play.

Boston's next baserunner came in the fifth, when Rafael Devers doubled. That was followed by strikeouts from Jackie Bradley (looking) and Blake Swihart (swinging). (JBJ struck out in all three of his plate appearances.)

Bogaerts led off the seventh with an opposite-field single, which brought lefty reliever Jace Fry in from the bullpen. Moreland reached on a fielding error at third. Eduardo Nunez grounded to first. Chicago got the force at second and Nunez was called out at first, but the call was overturned. So, down by one run, runners at first and second and one out, and Fry strikes out both Devers and Bradley.

Sale had an easy time of it, as well. The White Sox managed only three baserunners in the first five innings, all with two outs: a walk to Jose Abreu in the first, a single by Tim Anderson in the third and a single by Kevan Smith in the fourth.

Smith reached to open the seventh when his fly ball down the right field line fell fair and bounced into the crowd. He moved to third on a groundout. The Red Sox had the infield in and that cost them as Trayce Thompson lined a hit over Bogaerts's glove into left field, scoring Smith.

Heat Treatment: Sale struck out Daniel Palka in the fifth on a fastball that was clocked at 100.3 mph, which (I'm told) is the fastest pitch of Sale's career.

All of Chicago's outs in the first four innings were in the infield. They had only two outs recorded in the outfield. The Red Sox had only four.

The Yankees beat the Mets 4-1 and moved into first place in the East (0.5 GA).

Dylan Covey / Chris Sale

Benintendi, LF
Holt, RF
Bogaerts, SS
Moreland, 1B
Nunez, 2B
Devers, 3B
Bradley, CF
Swihart, DH
Leon, C

And I thought last night's lineup was bad ... Sale better throw a CG SHO.