Chris Sale: 'I Was Good for 5 and I Sucked for 1' in Red Sox's Game 5 Loss to Astros

Chris Sale certainly had one way to put it following his performance in Wednesday's Game 5 of the American League Championship Series.

"I was good for five and I sucked for one," the Boston Red Sox pitcher told reporters after the 9-1 loss to the Houston Astros. "I left my nuts out there, that's for sure."

It wasn't long ago that Sale was one of the best pitchers in the league and a surefire ace his team could rely on in the postseason.

He is a seven-time All-Star and finished in the top six of the American League Cy Young voting seven years in a row from 2012 through 2018. However, that is no longer the case after he missed the entire 2020 season and made just nine starts this year.

The southpaw allowed five earned runs in one inning in his first appearance of this postseason against the Tampa Bay Rays and was better while allowing one earned run in 2.2 innings in his first showing against the Astros.

He made it much deeper in Wednesday's game and allowed four runs and three hits while striking out seven in 5.1 innings. Still, just two of the runs were of the earned variety, as Kyle Schwarber's error in the sixth inning proved costly.

Michael Brantley reached base on the error, and Yordan Alvarez's two-run double just two batters later pushed Houston's lead from 1-0 to 3-0.

Things unraveled from there for the Red Sox after they turned to their bullpen, but they can at least take solace knowing that Sale was much better than he has been throughout the postseason.

He might not be able to pitch again unless they make the World Series, which will require two straight wins after falling behind 3-2 in the series.