Red Sox News: Chris Sale to Start Game 1 of 2018 ALDS for Boston

The Boston Red Sox still have five games left in the 2018 MLB regular season, yet president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski is already lining up the team's starting rotation for the playoffs.

Dombrowski said Tuesday on MLB Network Radio that left-hander Chris Sale will start the opening contest of the American League Division Series, which is scheduled for Oct. 5:

Sale is the obvious choice to open the playoffs for the Red Sox. He's 12-4 with a 2.00 ERA in 26 starts, and his 13.4 strikeouts per nine innings are a career high.

However, persistent shoulder problems limited Sale to one August start, and he has thrown 141 total pitches since returning to the mound in a 7-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays on Sept. 11.

Dombrowski said Tuesday the Red Sox will have Sale start Wednesday's game against the Orioles, and that the seven-time All-Star will "stretch out again to 90ish-type pitches" to help him get readjusted to a full workload.

The difference between winning and losing a five-game playoff series can be thin. In 2016, two of the Red Sox's three ALDS playoff defeats were decided by one run.

Sale was never a doubt to pitch in the playoffs, but having him in Game 1 of the ALDS will be a nice boost for Boston as it looks to advance to the American League Championship Series for the first time since 2013.