Sports

Red Sox exercise $15 million 2019 option on ace Chris Sale

30 of October 2018

The Boston Red Sox Chris Sale celebrates in the clubhouse after Game 5 of baseball's World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018, in Los Angeles. The Red Sox won 5-1 to win the series 4 games to 1. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola),The Boston Red Sox Chris Sale celebrates in the clubhouse after Game 5 of baseball's World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday, Oct. 28, 2018, in Los Angeles. The Red Sox won 5-1 to win the series 4 games to 1. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)

BOSTON (AP) — The Red Sox have exercised the 2019 option on ace left-hander Chris Sale.

Sale will earn $15 million in the final season of the five-year contract he signed with the White Sox in 2013. He can become an unrestricted free agent in 2020.

The 2017 AL Cy Young runner-up and a seven-time All-Star, Sale had three strikeouts in the ninth inning of Game 5 of the World Series to close out Boston’s fourth championship in 15 years.

The 29-year-old earned his first playoff victory in Game 1 of the AL Division Series against the Yankees. Sale went 12-4 with a 2.11 ERA and 237 strikeouts in 27 regular-season starts in his second season in Boston.

He was among the favorites to win the Cy Young this season before he dealt with shoulder issues down the stretch.

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