Sale bolsters NL Cy Young case with strong 7-K start to extend NL East lead
This browser does not support the video element.
PHILADELPHIA -- Winning the National League Cy Young Award for the second time in three seasons would be nice. But the determination Chris Sale has shown while recently matching up against three of MLB’s other elite starters has been a product of his desire to win another World Series.
Sale kept himself in the thick of the Cy Young race and again proved to be a big-game pitcher in a 5-2 win over the Phillies in the opener of a key four-game series on Friday night at Citizens Bank Park.
Coming off a shutout against the Dodgers, Sale limited the Phillies to two runs over six innings. His 2.10 ERA ranks second among NL pitchers, trailing only Brewers ace Jacob Misiorowski’s 1.97 ERA.
With just a few regular season starts remaining, there’s a chance Sale could still overtake Misiorowski for the ERA title. But he’s more focused on doing whatever he can to ensure the Braves stay ahead of the Phillies and also stay in the hunt to gain one of the two NL byes.
The Braves now hold a five-game lead over the Phillies, who will serve as the opposition six more times over the next nine games. Needless to say, Atlanta was happy to have Sale on the mound for the beginning of this key stretch that will significantly influence which of these two teams wins the NL East.
Sale’s latest start might also improve the Braves’ bid to not have to play in the best-of-three Wild Card round. They are a half-game ahead of the Dodgers for the NL’s second-best record, pending their result against the Nationals on Friday night. Atlanta (84-57) owns the tiebreaker over Los Angeles (83-57), having taken five of six during their regular-season series. So, if the postseason started on Saturday, the Braves and Brewers would receive the NL’s two byes.
Sale should be postseason ready when the playoffs arrive. He opposed Misiorowski, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Cristopher Sánchez in his past three starts. He allowed four earned runs over 21 innings in those outings.
This browser does not support the video element.
Alec Bohm doubled home a run in the second inning and hit a two-out home run in the fourth to account for the only damage incurred by Sale. Bryce Harper stranded runners at second and third with a weak popup to end the fifth. The Braves hurler then pitched around Luiz Arraez’s leadoff double with consecutive strikeouts to end the sixth.