Chris Sale turns back clock, hits triple digits and completes gem on emotional night in Braves sweep
Chris Sale Turns in a Masterpiece Against the Dodgers, Completes Shutout in Braves Sweep
ATLANTA — Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale delivered a vintage performance on Thursday night, completing a 1-0 shutout over the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers to cap a three-game sweep at home.
The 37-year-old left-hander went the distance for the first time since 2019, needing just 109 pitches to silence a Dodgers lineup that has tormented the rest of baseball. Eleven of those pitches produced strikeouts, including two against Shohei Ohtani, the reigning National League Most Valuable Player.
The lone run came in the first inning, when Braves catcher Drake Baldwin drove a first-pitch splitter from Los Angeles starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto over the wall for a solo home run. Yamamoto, the reigning World Series MVP, was otherwise effective, lasting 6⅓ innings and limiting Atlanta to that single run.
The moment of the night, however, belonged to Sale and the conversation he had with his manager after the eighth inning. With Atlanta leading by a run, Sale walked the length of the dugout to find Walt Weiss and made his intentions known.
"This is mine," Sale said.
Weiss did not argue. Twelve pitches later, Sale had retired the side and slammed the door on the Dodgers.
"You can make an argument that, as great a career as he's having, he's as good now as he's ever been," Weiss said afterward. "It's mind-boggling."
It was the kind of outing that felt like a throwback. Sale twice hit triple digits on the radar gun while facing Ohtani, the first time he had reached 100 mph since July 6, 2018, when he was still pitching for the Boston Red Sox. That year, Boston went on to win the World Series, years before Sale would undergo Tommy John surgery and begin the long road back.
Now firmly in the conversation for the National League Cy Young Award, Sale lowered his earned run average to 2.06, second in the majors only to Milwaukee Brewers rookie right-hander Jacob Misiorowski. He also extended a streak of allowing three runs or fewer to 21 consecutive starts, a run of dominance that has put him alongside Misiorowski in the early NL Cy Young race.
Only one Dodgers hitter reached scoring position all night.
"Anytime you're facing a team like that you just try to put your best foot forward, you know it's going to be a dog fight, you know it's not going to come easy," Sale said on The Pat McAfee Show on Friday.
The victory completed a sweep in which every game was decided by a single run, a testament to how tightly contested the series was and to how decisive Sale was in its finale.
The night carried extra weight for Sale off the field. Before the game, he learned that Ashley Foss, a close family friend, had died of cancer. Foss' family has managed Sale's finances through their agency for years, and the two families have grown close over that time. Sale did not speak publicly about the loss after the game, but the emotion was visible to those closest to him.
Videos shared on social media showed Sale's son reacting in real time as he realized his father would be sent back to the mound for the ninth inning. When Sale saw the footage later, it moved him.
"The family stuff, it's fun just [because] I'm glad I don't see that stuff until after the game [because] that's just so special," Sale said.
The Braves, now firmly in control of the NL East, opened a three-game weekend series against the Colorado Rockies on Friday night. The Dodgers, meanwhile, traveled to Detroit, where left-hander Tarik Skubal faced his former team for the first time since his blockbuster trade to Los Angeles earlier this month.
But in Atlanta, the talk on Friday morning was still about the night before, and about a pitcher who, more than a decade into his major league career, still has nights like this left in him.