Sale dismisses talk of strikeout record: 'I'd rather be 8-0'

Chris Sale could record 10 strikeouts for every remaining start in his career and it would mean little to him.

The Boston Red Sox starter inched closer to history Friday after striking out 10 Oakland Athletics batters, marking his eighth consecutive start with double digits in the strikeout column and tying an MLB record set by Red Sox pitching legend Pedro Martinez.

Sale could set the all-time record in his next outing - likely against the Texas Rangers at home - but the lanky southpaw would quickly trade in all those fanned batters if they equaled an immediate win in value.

"I'd rather be 8-0 with no punchouts, honestly," Sale said, according to Alex Espinoza of MLB.com. "Peripheral stats don't matter in this game. I know people love to crunch numbers and talk about this and that. They're flashy, they're cool, but at the end of the day, they don't matter. They really don't.

"Other than your win-loss record for your team, every other stat doesn't matter."

Sale is 4-2 in nine starts.

Though it was hard to ask much more of Sale on Friday - he allowed just two earned runs on seven hits in seven innings - Boston's bullpen failed to secure the win and the Athletics walked off the Red Sox in the 10th inning.

Despite the rough loss, Boston skipper John Farrell poured praise on the left-hander, whose dominance has become nothing short of expected at this point.

"That's eight in a row," Farrell said. "It's almost commonplace. Certainly, that's a lofty comment. But he's that good of a pitcher and he's on that good of a roll."