Sale doesn't fault Sandoval for shaky 1st inning: 'Mistakes are going to happen'

Chris Sale has his teammates' backs.

Boston Red Sox third baseman Pablo Sandoval's defensive struggles have been under fire whenever he's been on the field in 2017. While he didn't get charged with an error on Sunday against the Baltimore Orioles, he missed two plays in the bottom of the first inning.

In the first, he failed to tag Joey Rickard on a stolen-base attempt. The throw from catcher Sandy Leon was on time, but the tag didn't happen. Sandoval then sailed a throw into the outfield when trying to throw to second base to get a force out.

Sale wound up throwing 39 pitches and allowing three earned runs in the first inning, but he wasn't upset with his third baseman's lapses, according to Mass Live's Christopher Smith.

"I don't get mad at anyone out there other than myself - maybe an umpire once in a while," Sale said. "Mistakes are going to happen. That's part of it. For me, I really wanted to pick him up right there, kind of break through that."

Sandoval made up for it, leading off the second inning with a double. This was enough for Sale.

"The thing that was even bigger for me to see was Pablo's next at-bat after all that happened," Sale said. "He didn't hang his head. He wasn't pouting about it. He came up with a plan and was ready to go. And he ripped a double in the gap. I think that speaks a lot about who he is - his character. The type of teammate he is. You see something like that, it lifts you up a little bit. And I think it got our team going in the right direction."

The Red Sox won the game, and Sale didn't allow another run over his six innings of work.