Chris Sale will take the mound Tuesday night with the Braves trusting that a full week between starts is worth more than forcing their ace into a quicker turnaround. Atlanta has lined up Sale for Game 3 of the National League Division Series against the Dodgers at Truist Park, preserving the kind of extra-rest rhythm that carried him through most of the regular season.
Quick facts
- Sale starts NLDS Game 3 against Los Angeles on Tuesday at 6 p.m. ET at Truist Park.
- The game will air on FS1, FOX Deportes and FOX One.
- He will be seven days removed from his Wild Card Series Game 1 start.
- Sale received at least one additional day off before 25 of his 27 regular-season starts.
- Atlanta won Game 2 behind Ray Kerr, Robert Suarez, Didier Fuentes and Raisel Iglesias, keeping Sale and Tyler Mahle available for the next two starts.
The decision became a talking point after Sale threw 21 pitches to finish off the Phillies in the Wild Card round. He had started two days earlier, throwing 95 pitches in the series opener, then volunteered for bullpen duty when manager Walt Weiss was dealing with a short relief corps.
Sale got the final four outs of that clincher despite Atlanta holding a four-run lead. By the time Bryce Harper batted with two outs in the ninth, the usual relief options were Victor Mederos, Brent Suter and Iglesias, with Iglesias facing the possibility of a four-out save on his third consecutive day of work.
Sale wanted the ball again for Sunday’s Game 2, but the Braves declined. Starting him then would have meant a second start and third outing across six days, only three days after his relief work.
“I believed I could start Game 2, and I made that clear,” Sale said. “But it is a team game. It is not centered on me or any single player.”
Saving the full-strength version
Weiss said the club saw a downside in using Sale in both Game 2 and a potential Game 5. Though Sale technically would have been on standard rest for Sunday, his late Wild Card appearance changed the equation.
“People wanted Sale in Game 2 and Game 5, but we believed that would leave us with a less-than-full Chris Sale twice,” Weiss said. “We wanted the strongest version for Game 3, with the possibility that he could still influence Game 5 the way he did against Philadelphia.”
Sale made only two regular-rest starts all season, his second and third outings of the year, with the latter coming April 6. Atlanta’s preference has been clear: give him room between assignments and aim for the sharper, more efficient version of the veteran left-hander.
If the five-game series reaches a Game 5, Sale could again be available out of the bullpen. For now, though, his assignment is Los Angeles.
He has recent history against the Dodgers at Truist Park. On Aug. 27, Sale fired a five-hit shutout and punctuated it by striking out Shohei Ohtani with a 100-mph fastball, his first triple-digit pitch since 2018.
The 37-year-old also pitched effectively into the seventh inning against Philadelphia in his Wild Card start. His last postseason meeting with the Dodgers came in the 2018 World Series, when he emerged from Boston’s bullpen and struck out all three hitters he faced in the ninth inning to secure the championship.
“It is playoff baseball, and there is a terrific club in the other dugout,” Sale said. “I am getting ready for a grind, another fight, and to leave everything out there. Whatever follows, follows.”
