Boston Red Sox star Chris Sale apologized for his outburst in the clubhouse tunnel following his rehab start for the Triple-A Worcester Red Sox on Wednesday.

Sale told reporters he had a "seven-year-old temper tantrum" and said he was "an idiot" during the meltdown.

The seven-time All-Star logged 3.2 innings of work in Worcester's 4-2 loss to the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders. He allowed five walks, three hits and one unearned run while striking out five batters.

After exiting, Sale was visibly frustrated in the tunnel.

The southpaw has yet to make his 2022 debut for Boston. He underwent Tommy John surgery in March 2020, which left him out for the pandemic-shortened 2020 campaign.

While Sale returned to the mound in August 2021, he suffered a stress fracture in his rib cage in March, which left him unavailable for another extended spell.