A familiar face to Boston Red Sox fans returned to his usual dominance on Saturday.
Chris Sale hadn’t pitched since June 18, but the Atlanta Braves ace hit the ground running in his first start off the injured list. Returning from a fractured left rib cage, Sale held the Philadelphia Phillies to three hits and one run over six strong innings.
The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner tallied nine strikeouts to just one walk in a 3-2 loss.
Sale registered a 3.27 ERA and 12.7 strikeouts per nine innings during his Red Sox tenure, but injuries limited him to a combined 151 innings over his last three seasons. Boston traded him to Atlanta for Vaughn Grissom before the 2024 campaign.
While Grissom batted .190 in 31 games last season, Sale returned to peak form with a 2.38 ERA and 225 strikeouts in 177 2/3 innings. The 36-year-old didn’t miss a step this season, notching a 2.52 ERA in 16 starts before landing on the IL.
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Sale struggled out of the gate, but he’s now allowed eight combined runs in his last nine starts. The southpaw pitched beyond the fifth inning each time, completing at least six frames in seven straight outings.
The injury cost Sale a chance to defend his Cy Young crown. He also returns to an Atlanta squad out of playoff contention amid numerous other injuries.
It would have been easy for the nine-time All-Star to shut down his season and focus on 2026, but Sale wanted to finish on a high note and get back on track for a normal offseason program.
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“Watching baseball is not a lot of fun for me,” Sale said on Saturday, per The Athletic’s David O’Brien. “I enjoy competing. I enjoy being out there. And you get it taken away, you miss it a little bit. So when you get it back, you really want to kind of lock in and kind of be able to pick up your slack when your team needs it.”
