Red Sox doing enough right to make Chris Sale reunion enjoyable

Grissom’s two-run double in the eighth inning ended up the less blockbuster half of a four-run frame when Rafael Devers clobbered a ball out to right. It was Grissom, though, who ripped lineouts in the second and sixth innings before his would’ve-left-Yankee-Stadium shot with the bases loaded and the game still in doubt.

“That’s the difference between his at-bat and others — that he can hit the ball to right field,” Cora told reporters. “We do believe he’s going to hit the ball for power. But right now, we’ll take the hitter and just keep growing.”

This will be a reunion for him too, of course, with the organization that drafted and developed him, with which he went from High A ball to the majors in the summer of 2022. All well and good. Cheerwine for everyone.

As New England sports people, we do two things well — have long memories, and view everything through the lens of ourselves. That weekend trade of two-time batting champion Luis Arraez from Miami to San Diego? Much to think about, but what it means that the Padres got another second baseman when they just moved Xander Bogaerts there is probably only of much interest to us.

The two swapped between the second and DH spots over the weekend, but Arraez has been awful defensively the past two years. Bogaerts and his dreadful .217/.277/.294 line don’t figure to lose time because of that, anyway.

That Sale’s been good in Atlanta is no huge surprise; this always felt like a potential winner trade for both sides. He’s throwing more sliders than fastballs, which is a change, but he also did in 2019. It’s also understandable, given opponents are slugging .513 on the heater and .188 on the frisbees.

He’s attacking the zone at what would be the highest rate of his career. That means more first-pitch strikes — more than 73 percent, eighth-best in the majors — and more swings, but also a higher chase rate and more weak contact.

Sale’s strikeouts are down, to a still impressive 10.3 per nine innings, but his innings are up. Those three seven-inning starts make him one of only nine pitchers with that many this season. His 3.44 ERA in six starts includes strong outings against multiple first-place teams (Cleveland, Seattle, Philadelphia); his lone dud was five runs and three walks against, of all teams, the 10-26 Marlins.

More impressive may be his fiery presence already making an impact with an organization that was a recent World Series champion and back-to-back 100-game winner before he got there.

“His fire on the mound, his intensity. I think it really just kind of feeds over into the hitters and the position players, and honestly, to the bullpen, too. We get fired up for him,” reliever Pierce Johnson told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Love to see the way he goes about his business. Just a true professional.”

It would be crazy to say the Red Sox haven’t missed him, but the issue here has been health — Rob Refsnyder leaving Sunday with hamstring tightness is troubling, as is reliever Chris Martin being unable to shake soreness in his shoulder. It’s also been hitting, with the production beyond Devers, Tyler O’Neill, and Jarren Duran downright icy.

Credit to Cora, who stuck with a plan to sit O’Neill on Sunday, the long-term value of keeping him healthy more valuable than the short-term need in the lineup. Of course, that’s easier to say after the breaking of a six-game home run drought — by one of their worst hitters, no less.

Two at Atlanta, led by fulfilling-his-promise Kutter Crawford, and what should be a welcome visit by Washington before four with Tampa Bay next week. Division games remain the real measuring stick, and the Rays slopped out a sweep against the Mets to climb past Toronto into fourth.

The pressure’s still low, the absent expectations are still being outperformed. Don’t look now, but the baseball season in New England might not be over before the winter seasons are.