Left-hander Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves put together one of the more special performances of the year on Thursday, firing a complete-game shutout against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Sale was firing on all cylinders throughout the game, allowing only five hits to the Dodgers’ normally strong offense. The performance from Sale was able to help the Braves complete the sweep over the defending champions, helping them get back into playoff positioning in the National League.
The 1-0 win showed how close margins can be as the regular season starts to wind down, but the Braves relied on their ace to come through. Sale did this and more, giving Atlanta a gem of a performance when they needed it most.
Following the dominant outing, Sale’s name has started to generate more buzz around the NL Cy Young Award. While Jacob Misiorowski of the Milwaukee Brewers is likely still the favorite, Sale’s performance has seen his status rise.
Can Chris Sale Catch Jacob Misiorowski for NL Cy Young?
MLB analyst Erik Kratz spoke about Sale’s performance and bid for the Cy Young Award during a segment on Foul Territory.
“I just don’t see how he doesn’t end up a top-three Cy Young Award candidate this year. If it wasn’t for Misiorowski, and this type of performance in late August could have pushed him to win the Cy Young,” Kratz said.
There are still a few weeks left in the regular season, so Sale could technically catch the Brewers ace. But he would need to put together more performances like this, while seeing Misiorowski falter a little.
Here is how the two arms stack up right now:
Sale: 13-9, 2.06 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 144.0 innings pitched, 177 strikeouts
Misiorowski: 14-5, 1.73 ERA, 0.75 WHIP, 151.0 innings pitched, 222 strikeouts
It will be tough for Sale to match the dominance that Misiorowski has put together this year, but it’s possible.
Chris Sale Impresses Braves Teammates
Sale’s teammates couldn’t believe what they witnessed from the ace, with catcher Drake Baldwin commenting on the game. Baldwin drove in the game’s only run, hitting a leadoff home run to open the scoring.
“That’s probably one of the top two pitching performances I’ve seen during my time in the big leagues,” Baldwin said. “From pitch one, he was just locked in and executing pitches. It’s pretty incredible.”
Braves manager Walt Weiss trusted his ace to finish the job in a massive game against the NL rivals. Weiss had a feeling that something special was going to happen. Giving his left-hander the grace needed to complete the game.
“The look in his eye is always pretty pretty good, but it was even a little bit different tonight,” Weiss said.
As the Braves look ahead, Sale will need to be on his A-game for this team down the stretch. Atlanta is battling with the Dodgers, Brewers, and Chicago Cubs for the top-two spots in the NL standings.
Atlanta now has the tiebreaker over the Dodgers after sweeping them this series, giving them a potential edge down the line. But the job isn’t finished yet, and Atlanta still has plenty of work to do before the playoffs start.
Braves’ Chris Sale Gets Bold Prediction on Cy Young After Dodgers Shutout