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Red Sox ace Sale available out of bullpen for Game 4

Patrick McDermott / USA TODAY Sports

With the season on the line, it's all hands on deck for the Boston Red Sox.

Rick Porcello, the 2016 AL Cy Young winner, will get the start Monday afternoon against the Houston Astros, but if things get dicey the team has a back-up plan: Chris Sale.

Sale would be pitching on only three days' rest, something he did not do during the regular season. The lefty labored through five innings in his Game 1 loss, allowing seven earned runs on nine hits while throwing 100 pitches in the process.

Manager John Farrell also told reporters he didn't consider giving Sale the start because of potential inclement weather. But, he was not hesitant to commit to the possibility to use Sale in a relief role, according to ASAP Sports.

"(T)here's no tomorrow, and he's aware of it," Farrell said. "He was in the bullpen yesterday, as was Rick Porcello, so, yeah, he's primed and ready to go.

Any potential appearance will be dependent on Porcello, who pitched an inning in relief in that same series opener. As sharp as Porcello was in 2016, he was the polar opposite this season, going 11-17 with a 4.65 ERA and 1.39 WHIP.

Additionally, closer Craig Kimbrel could be expected to take on an expanded role if the situation calls for it.

"I don't know that Craig Kimbrel would go four innings, but we'll see how the game unfolds. But we feel like we're probably going to have to piece this one together as we have been doing. That's been kind of the common theme throughout the entire postseason, not just in this series, but around baseball."

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