Sale, 37, Dominates Dodgers With Triple-Digit Fastball in Braves’ Sweep Finale

Chris Sale, the 2024 National League Cy Young Award winner, delivered a dominant performance Thursday as the Atlanta Braves completed a three-game sweep of the defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers with a 1-0 shutout. The 37-year-old left-hander threw 109 pitches while striking out 11 batters, including two strikeouts of Shohei Ohtani, in recording his first complete game since 2019.

Sale’s fastball reached triple digits—a feat not accomplished since July 6, 2018, when he pitched for the Boston Red Sox at age 29. He struck out 11 and allowed only one Dodgers player to reach scoring position during his outing. The victory lowered his ERA to 2.06, the second-best in Major League Baseball, trailing only Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Jacob Misiorowski.

The performance carried extra weight for Sale, who learned before the game that Ashley Foss, a close family friend whose family has managed his finances for several years, had died of cancer. Sale told “The Pat McAfee Show” on Friday that the emotional night was particularly special, noting family reactions to his ninth-inning return.

Drake Baldwin’s first-pitch solo homer off Yoshinobu Yamamoto’s splitter in the second inning provided the game’s only run. The Braves, who lead the National League East, won each game in the series by one run. The Dodgers travel to Detroit on Friday to face the Tigers, with Tarik Skubal pitching against his former team following his recent trade to Los Angeles.