Chris Sale was already waiting in Walt Weiss’ office Thursday afternoon, and the Braves’ manager quickly learned his ace had no interest in saving anything for later.
Sale told Weiss he felt “amazing” before Atlanta’s winner-take-all National League Wild Card Series Game 3 against Philadelphia at Truist Park. By night’s end, he had taken the ball for the final four outs of a 6-2 clincher, sending the Braves on to an NLDS date with the Dodgers.
Sale put himself in the plan
Weiss had deliberately avoided asking Sale whether he could be available. After starting Game 1 two days earlier and recording Atlanta’s first 19 outs in a 5-4 victory, Sale was the sort of competitor likely to say yes regardless of how he felt.
He removed the question himself.
- Sale arrived in Weiss’ office before the Game 3 meeting and said he was ready.
- Weiss and Sale mapped out a possible relief appearance against the top portion of Philadelphia’s lineup in the eighth or ninth inning.
- Ray Kerr opened the game, followed by Grant Holmes, before Robert Suarez, Didier Fuentes and Dylan Dodd handled the middle portion of the bullpen plan.
- Atlanta’s offense gave the pitching staff room to work, with Michael Harris II launching a three-run homer in the first inning, Ozzie Albies hitting a two-run shot in the fourth and Matt Olson adding a solo blast in the seventh.
That support allowed the Braves to carry a 6-1 lead into the eighth. Sale had begun throwing in the bullpen during the top of the seventh, initially preparing for the heart of the Phillies’ order.
Olson’s homer changed the immediate math, and Weiss chose the left-handed Dodd to open the eighth against Philadelphia’s 9-1-2 hitters. Derek Hill, batting as a pinch-hitter, tripled to lead off and came home on Trea Turner’s sacrifice fly.
Dodd then had to remain in the game long enough to satisfy the three-batter minimum. That put him against Kyle Schwarber, who had sparked Philadelphia’s Game 2 rally with an eighth-inning homer off Dylan Lee. Dodd got Schwarber to fly out, and the door opened for the matchup Atlanta had been waiting on.
The moment belonged to Sale
With Bryce Harper due up, Sale jogged in from the bullpen to a charged Truist Park. Harris called the entrance “electric,” while Albies said he knew what was coming when he saw Sale warming.
“He’s definitely coming in. I love this,” Albies said. “The energy, the excitement there — everybody was pumped that he came in the game.”
Harper saw four pitches. He chased three sliders out of the zone, striking out on a ball that skipped to the backstop. Catcher Drake Baldwin recovered it and completed the putout at first base.
Sale returned for the ninth even as closer Raisel Iglesias prepared in the bullpen. Four hitters later, the Braves had their first postseason series victory since the 2021 World Series championship run.
Sale worked 1 1/3 innings and threw 21 pitches. He had started the series opener and finished the series clincher, becoming the first pitcher to do that in a postseason series since he accomplished it with Boston during the 2018 World Series against the Dodgers. He and Clayton Kershaw are the only pitchers to have done it more than once in postseason history.
“What a warrior,” Weiss said. “I’ve run out of superlatives for Chris Sale. I’ve been talking about him all year. He’s one of the best I’ve ever been around.”
Sunday remains a conversation for later
Sale had been viewed as Atlanta’s likely starter for Sunday’s NLDS Game 2, but Weiss was not ready to make a declaration after using him in the clincher.
“We weren’t even worried about that,” Weiss said. “It was just, ‘Put this thing down and then we’ll have those conversations later.’”
Sale’s answer was more direct.
“If I had to pitch tomorrow, I’d pitch tomorrow,” he said.
For one night, the rotation question could wait. Sale’s appearance was less about a carefully protected October plan than the whole club emptying the tank for one more win. “This could not be more of a group effort,” Sale said. “All hands on deck.”
