A fourth successive defeat would have left them with a big gap to close but Saracens opened up a 21-0 lead and then resisted Sale's second-half rally to go level on points with the north-west side.
Forwards Ben Skirving and Cencus Johnston scored the first-half tries which put the home side in the driving seat.
Fly-half Glen Jackson moved to the top of the Premiership scoring chart with a 14-point contribution as he landed five kicks from six attempts.
Jackson's four penalties and a conversion took him to 134 for the season, enabling him to overtake Sale's Charlie Hodgson, on 124, who missed the match after coming off the replacements bench for England at Murrayfield 24 hours earlier.
Sale replied with tries from Sebastien Chabal and Oriol Ripol, with former New Zealand international Luke McAlister, who switched from centre to fly-half in the absence of Hodgson, kicking two conversions and two penalties.
But they were always chasing the game after Saracens went 21-0 ahead in the first half.
Complete article
Saracens blunt Sharks bite
Saracens blunt Sharks bite
