Sale falls 4 strikeouts short of MLB record

Chris Sale was less than a handful of punchouts away from standing alone in the record books.

The Boston Red Sox starter entered Wednesday's game against the Texas Rangers looking for his ninth consecutive start with 10 or more strikeouts. After throwing 97 pitches in the contest, however, he was pulled after 7 1/3 innings with only six strikeouts on the night - four shy of breaking his eight-game tie with Red Sox legend Pedro Martinez.

Though Sale didn't break the record, his final line was still nothing to scoff at. The southpaw allowed three earned runs on six hits and walked only one batter to go along with six strikeouts.

It was the second time he had a 10-plus-strikeout streak end at eight games. The 28-year-old equaled the feat with the Chicago White Sox in 2015, when he fanned 10 or more batters in every start between May 23 and June 30.