For the second consecutive month, Boston Red Sox ace Chris Sale has been voted American League Pitcher of the Month for his efforts in July, and Arizona Diamondbacks starting pitcher Zack Greinke has been voted National League Pitcher of the Month for July. The announcement was made Thursday on MLB Network.
Sale, the AL's starting pitcher in the 2018 Midsummer Classic for the third consecutive year, compiled a perfect 3-0 record with a 0.36 ERA and 43 strikeouts over four starts to earn his fourth career AL Pitcher of the Month Award and second in a row. All-Star Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians was the last hurler to earn consecutive Pitcher of the Month honors. Chris permitted just 16 hits and four free passes, while not surrendering a home run across 25.0 innings pitched. Among qualified AL starting pitchers, the left-handed veteran finished first in ERA, tied for second in wins and tied for third in strikeouts. This is Boston's second AL Pitcher of the Month Award this season, following his previous honor in June. Sale's teammate Rick Porcello was the last different Red Sox hurler to claim the monthly honor, doing so during his Cy Young Award-winning 2016 campaign in September.
On July 11th against the Texas Rangers at Fenway Park, Sale earned the win after firing 7.0-shuout innings with 12 strikeouts and one walk allowed. The outing capped a five-start streak that the 29-year-old tallied at least 11 strikeouts without permitting more than one free pass, the longest streak of its kind in Major League history. In the final start of his dominant month on July 27th against the Minnesota Twins, Sale tossed 6.0-scoreless innings of three-hit ball to go along with 10 strikeouts. Entering play today, the seven-time All-Star has logged six consecutive starts in which he pitched at least 6.0 innings with nine-or-more strikeouts, while limiting the opposition to one run-or-fewer. The 13th overall selection in the 2010 MLB Draft became just the second Major League pitcher since at least 1908 to accomplish the feat, joining Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax, who logged a streak of six such starts from June 18-July 9, 1962.
In addition, it was Sale's 10th start this season in which he notched at least 10 punchouts while
permitting two walks-or-fewer, the second-most an American League pitcher has ever recorded across his team's first 105 games. During his Cy Young Award-winning campaign last season, Sale posted 12 such starts across Boston's first 105 contests. Overall, the Florida Gulf Coast University product became the second hurler (fifth time overall) in franchise history to pitch at least 25.0 innings with 43 strikeouts and a 0.36 ERA in a single calendar month, joining Smoky Joe Wood (September 1912; August 1912; September 1910; July 1911).
Others receiving votes for AL Pitcher of the Month included All-Star Trevor Bauer (3-0, 2.03 ERA, 40.0 IP, 47 SO) of the Cleveland Indians, as well as July's Reliever of the Month presented by The Hartford Edwin Díaz (10 G, 9 SV, 0.00 ERA, 15 SO) and Marco Gonzales (4-0, 1.78 ERA, 25.1 IP, 24 SO) of the Seattle Mariners.
Across five starts in July, Greinke registered a perfect 4-0 record with 35 strikeouts and a 1.60 ERA to claim his third career NL Pitcher of the Month Award, last winning with the Los Angeles Dodgers in August 2013. The right-handed pitcher limited opposing batters to just 25 hits, five walks and two home runs over 33.2 innings of work. Among qualified NL starting pitchers, Zack finished his dominant month first in ERA, and tied for first in wins and strikeouts. This is Arizona's first Pitcher of the Month Award since Greinke's rotation-mate Patrick Corbin in May 2013.
In a home tilt against the Colorado Rockies on July 22nd, Greinke tossed 8.0 innings of one-run ball with a season-best 13 strikeouts, while limiting the opposition to just two hits and one walk. The five-time All-Star became the third pitcher (fourth time overall) in Club history to post such a line, joining Hall of Famer Randy Johnson (May 18, 2001; April 21, 2002) and Curt Schilling (May 14, 2003). San Francisco Giants ace Madison Bumgarner was the last National Leaguer to accomplish the feat, doing so on July 10, 2016. In the final start of his award-winning month on July 27th against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park, the 2009 AL Cy Young Award winner earned his third straight victory after pitching 7.0 innings with six strikeouts and zero walks allowed, permitting one run on six hits.
The 34-year-old veteran enters play today having won each of his previous seven decisions dating back to June 18th. Over the course of his dominant stretch, the sixth overall selection in the 2002 MLB Draft has compiled a 7-0 record with 53 strikeouts, seven walks and a 1.53 ERA over 53.0 innings pitched. With his final outing, Greinke, who signed with Arizona as a free agent in December 2015, improved to 12-5 on the season while lowering his ERA to 2.96.
Jacob deGrom (0-2, 1.74 ERA, 31.0 IP, 30) also posted a strong month for the New York Mets. On July 23rd, the two-time All-Star posted his 13th outing of the season in which he tossed at least 7.0 innings with seven punchouts, while not allowing more than three walks and seven hits. The 30-year-old became the fifth hurler since at least 1908 to log 13 such outings over his club's first 97 games of a season, joining Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax (1965), Pedro Martinez (2000) and Johnson (1999-2000, 2002), as well as Schilling (2002).
Others receiving votes for NL Pitcher of the Month included first-time All-Star Aaron Nola (2-1, 1.19 ERA, 33.0 IP, 35 SO) of the Philadelphia Phillies; Jhoulys Chacín (4-0, 2.64 ERA, 30.2 IP, 27 SO) of the Milwaukee Brewers; and relief pitcher Scott Oberg (13 G, 5-0, 1.46 ERA, 14 SO) of the Colorado Rockies.
In recognition of their Pitcher of the Month Awards, Chris Sale and Zack Greinke will each receive a specially designed trophy, suitably engraved, for their accomplishments.