HOUSTON -- Red Sox ace Chris Sale was released from Massachusetts General Hospital and will rejoin the team in Houston for the American League Championship Series today.
Sale was admitted to the hospital on Sunday because of a stomach illness. After a battery of tests, it was determined that Sale doesn't have any serious health issues.
Red Sox manager Alex Cora said the club will wait until Sale is back with the team to make a definitive determination on when he will pitch again.
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Before becoming ill following his start in Saturday night's Game 1, Sale was scheduled to pitch next in Game 5 on Thursday.
"We need him to get here first and then see how he feels," said Cora. "It's more than the Red Sox; it's about the individual. So everything I heard, he should be fine and it's a matter of him showing up and we'll talk to him and see how he feels physically and go from there."
Sale didn't look like himself in Game 1 of the ALCS, walking four and throwing 86 pitches in four innings of two-run ball in the Red Sox's 7-2 loss to the Astros. The Red Sox don't believe that performance was attributed to Sale's illness, which he first mentioned after the game.
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The Red Sox didn't have many other details, but they could have more after Sale is back with the team.
"It's just his stomach," Cora said. "That's it. He felt ill right after the game, started throwing up. And then he decided to go to the hospital and that was it."
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In the second half of the season, Sale suffered mild inflammation in his left shoulder and pitched just 17 innings from July 28 until the start of the playoffs. Could Sale have taken some medication for his shoulder that led to whatever caused his stomach discomfort?
"No, not that I know of," said Cora.
What was the timeline of when Sale went to the hospital?
"I think it was probably in the morning, like I want to say 2 in the morning, 3 in the morning," Cora said. "That's what I hear. When I got to the ballpark -- actually, [trainer] Brad [Pearson] texted me about it. When I got to the ballpark they told me he was there. Nothing serious.
"He was going to go through a battery of tests and see what was going on. And thank God it's nothing that is serious at all. Like I said, he'll be here tomorrow, and hopefully physically he's ready to go and we'll decide when he pitches."