Sale (1-0) allowed three earned runs on four hits and three walks while striking out seven across five innings to earn the win Thursday against the Tigers.
Sale looked to be in for a poor outing after serving up a two-run homer in the second inning and surrendering an additional run one frame later. However, he closed the outing well and picked up 10 swinging strikes across 74 total pitches to go along with six groundball outs. Sale wasn't dominant, but the effort was a significant step forward from the seven earned runs he allowed in his initial outing of the new campaign.