The Red Sox had already accomplished their goal by winning the first three games of the series before they took the field against the Yankees on Sunday night.
Win the series, that’s what every baseball team talks about. Do that consistently and the season takes care of itself.
But when Chris Sale is the starting pitcher, it’s permissible to get greedy.
The reason the Sox signed Sale to a five-year, $145 million contract extension in March was for games like this, for him to be the hammer. His job is to turn a good series into one that changes the course of the season and gets the whole city excited. That’s what aces are supposed to do.
Don’t just take a series from the Yankees, cut their lead to seven games and prove that objects in the rear view mirror really are closer than they appear.
Sale instead allowed six runs in a game the Sox lost, 9-6. He’s now 5-10 with a 4.26 earned run average and well practiced in the art of saying the right things afterward.
“To come out here and be flat-out terrible, it’s tough,” Sale said. “We had a chance to sweep a four-game set against a team that’s in front of us.
Against a Yankees lineup that didn’t include Brett Gardner, D.J. LeMahieu, and Gary Sanchez due to recent injuries, Sale let subs beat him.
Cameron Maybin drew a walk in the third inning and backup catcher Austin Romine homered to left-center.
In the fourth inning, the only lefthanded hitter in the Yankees lineup, shortstop Didi Gregorius, launched a flat slider deep into the right-field stands.
It was only the 12th home run Sale has ever allowed against a lefthanded hitter and the third by a lefty off his slider. It came after Sale walked Luke Voit.
“The walks put him in a bad spot,” Sox manager Alex Cora said. “Command was OK; it wasn’t great. The slider was on and off.”
Sale then walked Gregorius in the sixth inning and that led to two more runs scoring. When Cora took him out of the game, the crowd behind the dugout gave Sale some polite “good effort” applause.
The Sox missed some chances to get back in the game, going 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position. There were some bad defensive plays, too.
But this one was on Sale and he knew it.
“As I sit here in front of you today, it’s kind of the same as a few other starts. Without me we have a pretty good chance to win this game,” he said. “That’s the toughest part.”
Sale threw only 56 of his 100 pitches for strikes. Outside of the one-inning start he had last Sept. 11 when coming back from a shoulder injury, it was the second-worse strike percentage in Sale’s 229 career starts.
“It just seemed like my stuff flattened out when I [pitched] out of the stretch. That’s when they did all their damage,” Sale said. “When I was in the windup I had pretty good rhythm. Once I got in the stretch it was a little different ballgame.
“A couple of bad walks, some homers put them over the edge. Something to look at there and try and figure out what I’m doing differently then as opposed to being out of the windup.”
The Sox are 9-14 in the games Sale has started this season, 3-8 at Fenway Park. Run support has played into that. But Sale is usually a pitcher who only needs a few runs to work with.
“I’m going to be completely honest with you guys. I have nothing to shy away from. I’m at a point where it’s been a tough year up to this point. It really has been a grind,” Sale said. “I know what I’ve done in the past. I know who I’ve been. I know what I can do.
Sale is 0-3 with a 7.71 ERA in three starts against the Yankees this season. He is scheduled to face them again on Saturday in the Bronx. It’ll be another huge series.
Sale has always pitched well at Yankee Stadium. But at this season is painfully proving, what he’s done in the past is losing some meaning.
But he’s glad his next start will be against the Yankees.
“That’s really good for me,” Sale said. “I’ve really enjoyed having back-to-back starts, especially when the first one doesn’t go well. You always to get a chance for redemption. I enjoy the competition.”
That’s what you want to hear.
But at some point, the Red Sox need to be impressed by what their ace does, not what he says.
Peter Abraham can be reached at pabraham@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @PeteAbe.