Chris Sale and the Red Sox hold together for a hard-fought win over the Royals and a series victory

If it had been any other pitcher, Cora would have asked for the ball and cut off any discussion. But Sale got his second chance.

“Throwing blows,” Korra said before patting Ciel’s chest and walking back to the hideout.

There may have been some adjectives thrown in there as well.

“Words of encouragement are to say the least,” Seal said.

Facing Mikel García, Sale threw a fastball from the outside corner charitably called a hit by referee Jim Wolfe. Then came his 96.8 mph fastball – Sale’s best of the day – which was caught for the second strike.

Sale came back with a slider that didn’t break quite as he wanted but was grounded to shortstop to end the inning.

The Sox went on to win 7-3 and Sale got their first win since May 26.

Sale is the player that Korra has managed the longest and their relationship is based on mutual respect. The principle estimated the postponement.

“If I’m going to tell him I’m going to do something for him, you have to do it,” said Seal. “I definitely emptied the tank there.”

Sale (6-3) threw 100 pitches, 64 strikeouts. The Royals only drew two walks but missed 17, making the sale work in favor of every out.

His fastball was about two miles per hour slower than his previous start and he fell behind in the count to eight of the 19 batters he faced.

“I feel comfortable where he is physically,” said Cora. “I know the pace was down all day and he was grinding. It was tough.”

It was Seal’s 120th career win. Thirteen teams have faced the Royals, two more than any other opponent during his 13 seasons in the major leagues.

The Sox (71-66) got two of three in the series. On Monday afternoon, they will open a three-game set in Tampa Bay.

In a scoreless game, Justin Turner drew a lead off Zack Grinke in the fourth inning. Treston Casas followed with a double to left which Samad Taylor misplayed. With one out, Masataka Yoshida hit an over-the-wall changeup in right field for his 14th home run and fourth since the All-Star break.

Greinke (1-14) has allowed three runs over ​3⅔ innings pitched, snorting while throwing nearly every pitch. There was little separation between the fastball and the changeup. Taylor Clark opened for the Royals and gave way to Greinke after one round.

Adam Duvall added a solo homer off Austin Cox in the sixth inning. He has 19 homers in only 74 games and 256 at-bats.

Duval started 15 consecutive matches and played in 25 of the last 26 matches. For a player who has struggled with a variety of injuries in recent years, this makes sense.

“I always want to be available. I want to show; I want to be ready for the game. I want to play the game the right way and I want the coach to be able to play me,” said Duvall. “That’s important to me.”

In the seventh, the Sox scored one run on a throwing error and another on Turner’s sacrifice fly. Rafael Devers homered the seventh with an RBI double in the ninth inning.

Turner has hit the plate with a runner in the scoring position and two under 38 times this season and drove in 33 runs. He’s 15-for-30 and has six sacrifice flies and only five strikeouts.

The Sox used four relievers in each inning after the sellout. This included Kenley Jansen, who has not participated since Wednesday. Veteran closers are generally not big fans of no-save situations and Jansen has allowed two runs on three hits.

Alex Verdugo left the game in the sixth inning with a tight left hamstring. The right-handed player can only expect to miss a day or two.

Peter Abraham can be reached at peter.abraham@globe.com. follow him @ Abby’s house.