Chris Sale was a dominant force against the Blue Jays on Friday night. Sale stymied the Jays offence and struck out 15 batters en route to his nine-inning performance. It appeared that Boston's ace was set to earn his second-straight win.
Enter Luke Maile, the 26-year-old catcher who started the season with Triple-A Buffalo. Maile went yard twice, including a 12th inning walk-off to lead Toronto past Boston 5-3. In fact, Maile was the Jays most productive player at the plate.
Maile went 3-for-4 with four RBIs. The rest of Toronto's roster didn't replicate Mailes success. Toronto batters compiled a sluggish 5-for-37 against Sale and the three Red Sox relievers that followed. Maile's first home run came with Toronto entering the latter stage of the game. He sent an 0-1 pitch over the left field fence to pull Toronto even with Boston.
In February, if you were to tell me that Luke Maile would be hitting .328 and going deep against Chris Sale, well... I'll put it nicely and say I wouldn't believe you. #BlueJays pic.twitter.com/tdIrulwzbC
— Andrew Hockridge (@drewhockridge) May 12, 2018
Then the stalemate began. Sale recovered from the allowed home run to pitch through the nine innings of work. With a full bullpen available for extra innings, it's an ideal position for any manager. The Red Sox opted to go to Brian Johnson in the bottom of the 12th inning.
Curtis Granderson walked on four pitches that set up the memorable moment for Maile, who surely delivered.
The final stamp ALWAYS belongs to the Maile Man. #Walkoff 📨 pic.twitter.com/nWSaW9f6ji
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 12, 2018