Chris Sale went full 2012 on the Dodgers, and then delivered the best postgame quote of the season.
The Braves ace threw a complete-game shutout on Thursday at Truist Park to sweep the three-game series against Los Angeles. Final line: 9 innings, 5 hits, 0 walks, 11 strikeouts, 1-0 Atlanta. Zero doubt about who owned the mound.
The Braves needed all of it. Their offense scored one run in nine innings against a Dodgers pitching staff that has already been strengthened by the Tarik Skubal trade. Sale did not care. He treated the best lineup in baseball like it was a Triple-A affiliate.
The highlight came in the third inning. Sale reached back and threw a 100.1 mph fastball to Shohei Ohtani. That was the first time the 37-year-old has touched triple digits since 2018. Seven years. Sale has had Tommy John surgery, multiple injury setbacks, and the wear and tear of 16 big-league seasons. He still had it in the tank.
What made the moment better was the reaction. Wiley Ballard, the Braves sideline reporter, asked Sale after the game how he threw a pitch over 100 mph for the first time in eight years.
“With my arm,” Sale replied.
That is a Hall of Fame level answer. Short, honest, absolutely zero interest in the theatrics of the moment. Everyone else can make it a story. Sale threw the pitch, won the game, and went home.
The context matters. Sale is now in his 16th MLB season, a 10-time All-Star, three-time strikeouts leader, and one-time Cy Young winner. He is not the same pitcher he was in 2015 with the White Sox. He does not have to be. He gets outs, and when the moment calls for it, he can still bring the heat.
This start also shifts the NL East race back into focus. Atlanta had been quietly hanging around all summer, and the Dodgers were supposed to be the measuring stick series. The Braves swept it. Sale ended it. That is the kind of statement that gets remembered in October.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, have questions. Ohtani has been human at the plate for a couple of weeks, the bullpen has been inconsistent, and Skubal has been useful but not the finishing piece. Losing three straight to the Braves is not a crisis, but it is a reminder that LA is beatable.
Sale’s arm is 37 years old. His fastball still touches 100. His attitude has not changed in a decade. The rest of the NL should be paying attention. So should October opponents. This guy is not done.
A longtime sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.
