Sale returns to Red Sox rotation for playoff push

Chris Sale, who has been on the injured list since his last start June 1, has been activated and will start Friday’s game for the Boston Red Sox.

Sale has been recovering from a stress reaction in his left scapula and is 5-2 with a 4.58 ERA this season. The Red Sox hope his return to the rotation can provide a spark, as they are four games out of the final wild-card spot in the American League entering Friday’s games.

The 34-year-old left-hander will start against the Detroit Tigers at Fenway Park on Friday night.

In a related roster move, left-hander Brandon Walter was optioned to Triple-A Worcester.

Sale’s absence was the latest in a series of setbacks since he agreed to a long-term deal before the 2019 season that guaranteed him $160 million.

Sale is 16-15 with a 4.21 ERA in 47 starts since joining the Red Sox. He had been an All-Star for seven straight seasons at the time of the contract, going 103-62 with a 2.89 ERA in his first nine big league seasons.

He was limited to one start from late July to mid-September in 2018 because of shoulder inflammation, then returned and helped the Red Sox win the World Series.

He didn’t pitch after Aug. 13 in 2019 because of left elbow inflammation; missed all of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season following Tommy John surgery, which sidelined him until Aug. 14, 2021; and didn’t pitch until July last year because of a stress fracture in a rib on his right side. He returned for two starts, then broke his left pinkie when he was hit by a line drive. Before Sale could return from that, he broke his right wrist in a bike accident.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.