Chris Sale clearly wished that one.
The Atlanta Braves ace threw a shutout in opposition to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Thursday, ending off a three-game sweep with a 1-0 win. The sport was billed as a pitchers’ duel in opposition to Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto and he most definitely delivered.
Commercial
Sale’s ultimate line: 9 innings, 5 hits, 0 runs, 0 walks and 11 strikeouts (tying a season excessive) on 109 pitches. He completed issues off with a punchout of Alex Name.
The 27-year-old Sale turned again the clock in a number of methods. It was his first shutout since 2019, a span of time that features 117 begins, three All-Star berths and the 2024 NL Cy Younger Award. Solely 5 older pitchers have thrown a shutout with double-digit strikeouts and no walks in MLB’s trendy period: Cy Younger, Eddie Plank, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson.
He additionally discovered some uncommon warmth in opposition to the Dodgers’ most harmful hitter. Dealing with Shohei Ohtani within the third inning, Sale threw a 100.1 mph fastball, his quickest pitch since July 6, 2018 based on MLB.com’s Sarah Langs.
Sale later struck Ohtani on a 99.6 mph pitch, his second-hardest pitch of the evening.
Commercial
On the Dodgers’ facet, Yamamoto had a wonderfully positive outing with 6 1/3 innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 stroll and eight strikeouts. His solely run, the lone run of the sport, got here on his first pitch when Braves catcher Drake Baldwin obtained a maintain of a dangling splitter for a 402-foot homer.
Yamamoto and the Dodgers bullpen allowed solely three extra hits the whole sport, all singles, however their offense could not muster the wanted run in opposition to Sale.
The Braves’ win is important so far as MLB playoff seeding goes. Atlanta is now just one sport again from the Dodgers for the No. 2 seed within the NL, with the Milwaukee Brewers sitting simply forward at an MLB-best 82-51.
Commercial
Extra regarding for the Dodgers is that they’re now 1-12 since July 31 in opposition to groups at the moment holding a playoff spot. With the postseason simply over a month away, that is not precisely the perfect signal for the two-time defending champions.
