Sale nearly makes history in hard-luck defeat

CHICAGO — Chris Sale was unhittable from the fifth inning through the final Seattle batter he faced on Friday night in his Major League-best fifth complete game this season.

Somehow, though, the White Sox ace suffered the loss in a 3-1 setback.

“Thank God we did it early because as everybody saw, when he gets on a roll it’s like lights out,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “He’s obviously one of the best pitchers in the league for a reason.

“We had no chance, really, after the fourth and fifth inning. He got into a groove and got all his pitches working.”

It wasn’t as if the Mariners hit Sale hard in the first four innings. But in an aces-high matchup between the five-time All-Star and Cy Young winner Felix Hernandez, Seattle’s hitters did enough damage to escape.

Franklin Gutierrez homered in the second, a bases-loaded double-play grounder scored a run in the third and left-handed-hitting Adam Lind doubled home a run in the fourth. Sale retired the final 16 after that double, striking out 10 during the shutdown.

Sale fanned six straight starting with Robinson Cano to open the sixth and …

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