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08/31 05:00 CDT Shutout against the Dodgers shows Chris Sale is still elite at
age 37 -- and building a Hall case
Shutout against the Dodgers shows Chris Sale is still elite at age 37 -- and
building a Hall case
By NOAH TRISTER
AP Baseball Writer
Chris Sale shut out the Dodgers and threw a 100 mph fastball in the process.
You could call it turning back the clock, but that would imply the Atlanta
left-hander's best days are behind him. And that's hardly the case.
Sale struck out 11 in a five-hitter Thursday night, lowering his ERA to 2.06.
Only Jacob Misiorowski's (1.73) is better, and Sale may be the only one capable
of pushing the Milwaukee ace in the Cy Young race. At the very least, Sale has
a good chance to post his eighth top-five finish in a Cy Young vote. He won in
2024, his first season with the Braves.
Thursday's 1-0 win over Los Angeles was Sale's first complete game since 2019
and included his first time reaching 100 mph on a pitch since 2018. He was with
Boston then, wrapping up a stretch of seven straight years (2012-18) finishing
in the top six in the Cy Young vote. But a poor 2019 was followed by Tommy John
surgery, and Sale's future looked uncertain.
Since the Red Sox traded him to Atlanta for Vaughn Grissom, however, Sale has
been an elite pitcher again. He finally won that elusive Cy Young in 2024,
going 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA. He was 7-5 with a 2.58 ERA in 21 games last season,
and this year he's on pace to post an ERA under 2.20 for the third time as a
starter. He also did that in 2014 with the Chicago White Sox and 2018 with
Boston.
The 37-year-old Sale doesn't have as much Cy Young hardware as Justin Verlander
or Max Scherzer, but if he can pitch into his 40s like they have, his Hall of
Fame case could look pretty solid. His career wins above replacement total ---
per Baseball Reference --- is roughly the same as CC Sabathia's. And Sabathia
was voted in on the first ballot.
Sale is under contract with Atlanta for next season, and the Braves have a team
option for 2028.
Trivia time Sale's only second-place finish in the Cy Young vote came in 2017. Who beat him out? Performance of the week While Sale tries to prevent Misiorowski from running away with the Cy Young Award, Pete Crow-Armstrong is putting in quite a claim for the National League MVP. He hit three homers with six RBIs for the Chicago Cubs in a 17-5 win over Cincinnati on Saturday. Then the following day he went deep two more times. Crow-Armstrong is up to 38 homers on the year, just two shy of Kyle Schwarber's major league-leading total. Comeback of the week The Reds scored seven runs in the top of the ninth to beat San Francisco 10-9 on Wednesday. Hctor Rodrguez led off the inning with a homer to make the score 9-4. Then a single and two walks loaded the bases for Eugenio Surez, whose grand slam brought Cincinnati within a run with still nobody out. Jose Trevino eventually tied it with a sacrifice fly, and Tyler Stephenson's RBI single gave the Reds the lead. Team of the week The Braves were baseball's only unbeaten team this week, going 6-0. They continue to hold Philadelphia at arm's length in the NL East, leading the division by five games after Matt Olson's walk-off single against Colorado on Sunday extended Atlanta's winning streak to seven. The Braves swept three straight games against the Dodgers, winning each by a run. One of them was Sale's gem. Another came on a walk-off single by pinch-hitter Ha-Seong Kim. Trivia answer Cleveland's Corey Kluber won it that year. ___ See AP's full MLB coverage here |
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