Ben Cohen, who had lost his place in the England squad, was out to impress and made his mark with a try after 15 minutes.
Tucker put over another penalty before Sale were galvanised into action, with Charlie Hodgson pulling them back into contention with two penalties, a try and a conversion in the last 10 minutes of the half to leave his side a point adrift.
Sale, however, cut loose after the break and Saints found themselves up against it.
Pete Anglesea, who will find out on Thursday if his year ban for gouging in the game against Newcastle is upheld, went over five minutes into the half while winger Steve Hanley showed the Saints a clean pair of heels to score 15 minutes later.
Northampton fought back but Sale's defence held firm and up-andcoming winger Mark Cueto landed the home side's bonus point with try No.4 as the game drew to a close.
It was another busy day for fly half Hodgson, who chalked up a personal tally of 19 points.
Mallinder said: 'In the first half we spilt the ball far too often. But we learned our lesson and turned the game round.
'Hanley is coming back to his England form and young Cueto is a real gem for us.'
