Sale accomplishes mission in possible last start

CHICAGO — If Chris Sale’s final 2017 start came Tuesday night at U.S. Cellular Field, then the American League Cy Young candidate went out in style during a 13-6 victory over the Rays.

Sale matched a single-season career-high with victory No. 17, allowing three runs on eight hits over seven innings, while striking out seven and not issuing a walk. He increased his single-season best for innings pitched to 221 2/3, and in a season where Sale wasn’t trying to go all-out with every pitch and wasn’t worried about strikeouts, he still posted the second highest number of strikeouts in his career at 227.

This special K Zone speaks to Sale’s immense talent as much as anything else.

“That’s not for me to talk about,” said Sale, who has walked 44. “We went into this year knowing what we were going to get ourselves into. Just trying to do something better for the long haul and looking back, I got burned a couple of times.

“Just like anybody, though. It’s not to say I wouldn’t have done the same thing in previous years. So, you just make some adjustments and go forward.”

When asked if this was the best he had felt 31 starts into the …

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