Chris

Sale

Sale wriggled out of a first-inning jam by punching out Shohei Ohtani on a nasty slider and piled up six punchouts over three shutout frames to open the contest. He ran into trouble in the fourth when postseason hero Enrique Hernández slugged a two-run shot to left field before former Braves icon Freddie Freeman took him deep to right-center field, an absolutely stunning turn of events for the veteran ace after allowing just 10 homers across 162 2/3 regular-season innings. It was the first time he served up multiple home runs in a postseason outing since his playoff debut back in 2017. He returned to toss a perfect fifth inning before departing after 95 pitches (62 strikes), with Atlanta manager Walt Weiss turning to his bullpen to open the sixth. It’s a virtual lock that Sale will get the ball again at some point, most likely in relief, as the best-of-five series continues.

Even without the relief appearance on Thursday, Sale would have been starting on four days’ rest had he pitched in Game 2, and he hadn’t done that since way back on Apr. 6, when he allowed six runs in four innings against the Angels. Sale starting in Game 3 and potentially coming out of the pen in Game 5 might always have been the best plan for Atlanta.

Braves manager Walt Weiss hasn’t ruled out using Sale on Sunday, but that wouldn’t have been ideal even if Sale didn’t pitch in relief; Sunday would put him on four days’ rest from his start Tuesday, and he hasn’t pitched on four days’ rest since the first week of April. “We’re gonna err on the side of giving him (time to rest) if it’s even close,” Weiss said. Most likely, Sale will start Game 3 on Tuesday.

Sale allowed just one run while he was in the game, but a pair scored in the seventh after he exited on a two-run triple by J.T. Realmuto. The left-hander was so much better than this line suggests while generating 22 swings-and-misses with 16 of those coming on his slider. Sale remains one of the best starters in baseball — although with more volatility because of durability at age 37 — and if Atlanta can’t come from behind and win, he’ll be the ace of the staff again to start 2027.

Sale washed away a lead-off home run by Juan Brito to retire the next eight batters he faced with five strikeouts… until Brito came up again and smacked a single. Besides that peculiar thorn in his side, Sale was his usual dominant self, matching a season-high with 23 swings-and-misses and struck out double-digit batters for the fifth time this season. With this being the finale of his regular season, Sale closed his age-37 campaign with a 2.16 ERA, 14 wins, and 200 strikeouts in 162 2/3 innings. The Braves are likely locked in to the third seed in the National League, so Sale is set to pitch next in game one of the Wild Card series next Tuesday.

It’s a tough break for fantasy managers in the middle of playoff matchups. However, all indications are that Sale, who was originally scheduled to start on Friday, is healthy and not dealing with any physical issues. The decision appears to be aimed towards setting up Atlanta’s rotation for the postseason schedule. It’ll be Tyler Mahle, Grant Holmes and Martín Pérez getting the ball against the Astros this weekend.

He struck out six. All of the runs came with two outs in the third on a single, a walk, a HBP and a bases-loaded double. Sale allowed just one other hit and walk over the remaining six innings, but the one bad frame meant he left down 3-2 before the Braves came back. Sale is lined up to face the Astros and Reds in his final two starts.

There’s simply no stopping Sale right now. This was his eighth straight start going at least six innings and he hasn’t allowed more than three runs since April 6th. If not for Alec Bohm – who drove in the only Phillies’ runs with a double and homer – Sale may not have let up any here. The Phillies did get around on him pretty well here though with 10 hard-hit balls as Sale’s fastball command was a bit inconsistent, but still it’s so difficult to sustain a rally against him. He now has a 2.10 ERA as he makes a late push for the National League Cy Young award and is set to face the Rays at home next time out.

The 37-year-old southpaw piled up 11 strikeouts on the night and didn’t walk a batter, throwing a remarkable 80 of his 109 pitches for strikes. The only real threat against him came as Mookie Betts doubled to lead off the fourth inning, and he never advanced past second base. Sale got 20 swings and misses in the contest — 11 of those on his slider — while posting an elite CSW of 39 percent. Now 13-9 on the season, the Cy Young hopeful will carry a stellar 2.06 ERA, 1.00 WHIP and a 177/28 K/BB ratio (144 innings) into Wednesday’s matchup against the Nationals in Washington.

It’s the second straight outing in which Sale has gotten zero run support, and the left-hander fell to 0-3 in August despite turning in quality starts each time out. He’ll take a 12-9 record and a 2.20 ERA into his next turn at home against the Rockies.