PORTLAND, Maine -- Chris Sale ran into trouble against opposing hitters for the first time in his road back to the Red Sox on Sunday, but his nine strikeouts in 3 2/3 innings prevented much of it from sticking.

In the third inning of his second rehab start for the Double-A Portland Sea Dogs, four Harrisburg Senators reached base -- one via a homer -- but the left-hander ultimately bulldozed his way through the frame by fanning three to leave the bases loaded.

"No pitcher wants to go out and give up home runs and hits and stuff like that, but it's good to have that before I get back to the bigs," Sale said. "I had to pitch out of some stuff -- I had a guy on third base, I had the bases loaded, and that's the time when you're back's up against the wall and you've got to make some pitches."

He gave up six hits, did not allow a walk, hit a batter and was charged with two runs -- both earned -- in Portland's 6-5 win.

"It was good. I don't think I was quite as consistent with my pitches," the 6-foot-6 southpaw said. "The last time when I would make a bad pitch or miss, it was on the corner or outside the zone -- up or down or off the plate. Today, if I made a bad pitch it was just in the middle of the plate."

His fastest pitch of the day was 96 mph, and he worked effectively with his changeup and slider, making 64 deliveries and throwing 46 strikes.

"[The slider] is something that I really want to sharpen a lot," he said. "I threw a few [changeups]. That's another tool I've got to get back on top of. That was a good pitch for me a while ago, and I need to revive that a little bit more.

"One thing I'm happy about with all this -- I'm feeling strong from start to start, and even the first couple days after my start I'm bouncing back pretty good. I've just got to keep it rolling."

Sale, who underwent Tommy John surgery last March and made his first Double-A rehab start (and second overall) with the Sea Dogs on Tuesday, said he's headed back to the Boston area on Sunday evening and that his next outing will not be with Portland, although he's suited up and been at Hadlock Field for the entirety of the Sea Dogs' six-game set against the Senators.

"I love it. They asked me if I wanted to go back to Boston in between [starts], and I said, 'Absolutely not.' This is fun for me," said Sale, who sprung for the postgame spread without knowing what it would be. "I just handed [over] my credit card."

He fanned a pair in the first, shaking off a two-out double by Jake Alu to whiff KJ Harrison on his hardest fastball of the day. He struck out another two to open the second, allowed a single to Gilbert Lara on a 92-mph offering, then added another punchout. The busy third -- which Osvaldo Duarte opened with a home run on an 86-mph changeup -- also featured a double, a bunt single and a hit batsman.

Portland pitching coach Lance Carter paid Sale a visit around the 50-pitch mark.

"He was kind of just giving me a breather," the seven-time All-Star said. "He even said at the time ... 'Hey, this is good for you. You're going to have to pitch out of this. You've got some traffic on the bases. This will be a good test.'"

After fanning Lara with a 78-mph slider to open the fourth and handling a soft grounder himself for a second out, Sale allowed a double to Duarte, then exited. Duarte scored on a single by Cole Freeman off reliever Dominic LoBrutto.

Sale's workload between Tuesday's start and Sunday's was approximately the same routine at about the same intensity as he expects to maintain through big league starts in the future.

“Fortunately, some of the brighter spots of this rehab have helped me get a better routine to know what my arm and my body and my mind need on days in between my starts," he said. "I’ve felt pretty good, so it’s going to be about the same.”