Sale Records 10-Plus Strikeouts in Franchise-Record 5th Straight Start

Chicago White Sox pitcher Chris Sale set a franchise record in Sunday's 2-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays, becoming the first pitcher in team history to record double-digit strikeouts in five consecutive starts, per the White Sox's official Twitter account.

Although brilliant yet again, Sale saw his record fall to 6-3 on the season after he surrendered just two runs on three hits and three walks over 6.2 innings, striking out 12 batters along the way.

He still became the first pitcher since Pedro Martinez in 2001 to record 12 or more strikeouts in four consecutive outings, per ESPN Stats & Info.

Sale has recorded 51 strikeouts over that stretch of four starts, with 61 in his last five games.

His run of dominance began before either strikeout streak, though, starting with an outing against the Milwaukee Brewers on May 12.

Sale entered that outing with a 5.93 ERA, but he's given up just nine earned runs in his last seven starts, dropping his ERA all the way to 3.01.

He also has 79 strikeouts over that seven-game span, averaging 11.29 per start and 1.48 per inning.

Despite suffering through a shaky first few weeks of the season, Sale now appears to be poised for a run at the American League Cy Young Award, boasting a 6-3 record, 3.01 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and 105-20 strikeout-to-walk ratio over 80.2 innings in 12 starts.