Sale, a freshman left-hander from Florida Gulf Coast University, pitched seven scoreless innings of relief and earned the 'W' as the Loggers beat the Madison Mallards 2-1 in the home opener at Copeland Park.
Much of Sale's success came thanks to a sharp slider that he added to his repertoire only a few minutes before he went to the mound in the sixth inning.
"I came here and started throwing my curveball and it was kind of hard to grip with the (low) seams," Sale said before Saturday's game."My buddy Woody, (FGCU teammate) Pete Woodworth, throws a cutter and was kind of helping me out with my grip and reminding me to get out front and then I started throwing (the slider) in the bullpen and it looked pretty good, so I told (catcher) Andy Pascoe, 'Let's mix it in a little bit.'"
Sale, a 21st-round draft pick of the Rockies in 2007, said he hadn't thrown a slider since high school. The experiment was an unqualified success, as he allowed just five hits and struck out eight Madison batters.
"It felt good, guys were rolling over on it, so I mixed it in a little more," Sale said. "Why not."
Loggers pitching coach Derek Tate admitted it's unusual for a pitcher to tinker with a new pitch or grip just before throwing in a game.
"But if he's loose enough and committed enough and wants to go out there and throw it, let's not take that away from him," Tate said. "Chris has got big-league stuff; he's a 6-foot-6 lefty with a great feel for three pitches and is throwing 89-91. With more innings, he's going to be just fine."
Sale pitched mostly out of the bullpen this spring for FGCU. He went 2-0 with a 3.47 ERA in 21 games (one start) and had two saves. He struck out 43 batters and walked 10 in 36 1/3 innings.
"I was a starter in high school but when you come to college ball it's a whole different aspect," Sale said. "They had me in the bullpen and I'd pitch one or two innings at a time, sometimes on back-to-back days."
Sale ended up throwing 90 pitches against the Mallards, far more than he has been used to at the collegiate level, but didn't fade much as the innings piled up.
"I just kind of went out there with the mindset that I've got to go compete every inning and if they stick with me, no problem," Sale said. "I focused in real yard every inning and I didn't really thnk about it. Just, 'Well, all right, I have to go out next inning and pound it."
When Sale stepped into the dugout after the top of the 12th, Loggers manager Andy McKay told him his night was over, with Woodworth ready to go for the 13th.
It never came to that, as Justin Toole won the game with an RBI single in the bottom of the 12th.
"Getting on top of things early in the season helps out a lot, but it's a different day every day at the park," Sale said of his superb debut. "One day you could be on fire and the next day you give up back-to-back home runs. I'll definitely take this and learn from it."
Loggers GM Chris Goodell said he expects those players--and others whose seasons might end this weekend in regionals--to report next week.