MIAMI -- Chris Sale has accomplished a lot in his career: The 2024 National League Cy Young winner won a World Series title with Red Sox in 2018 and has earned nine All-Star selections. One of the few feats that had eluded him entering Wednesday, though, was a win over the Marlins.
But thanks to a sterling seven-inning gem and a relentless Braves offensive attack, Sale changed that in Atlanta's 9-1 victory over Miami at loanDepot park.
Sale entered the matchup with a 1.96 ERA, fourth best among qualifying National League starters, but also with an 0-2 record and a 5.30 ERA in three career starts against the Fish.
One of the main reasons Sale feels so confident when he is on the mound is because of the players behind him.
"I know we have a very potent offense, so I'm probably going to have a little bit of a cushion most of the time,” Sale said. “That always gives me confidence to throw strikes and attack the zone.”
But there may only be a few people Sale trusts more on a baseball field than catcher Sandy León, his teammate on Boston’s 2018 championship team.
“That guy can lead me through the woods blindfolded,” Sale said. “I always say catchers [have] the most important position on the field. [León] sees the entire landscape of the field. He's been doing this for a long time, and just his calmness, his confidence, his ability, his game-calling and the way he receives the baseball. And again, you just feel comfortable when you have a guy like that behind the plate.”
The Marlins got to Sale early. In the first inning, he gave up two hits and a run on a sacrifice fly ball by Heriberto Hernández. Sale said Miami looked ready for pitches in the strike zone, and he felt he tried to do too much once he got ahead in counts.
“When I got to two strikes, I just tried to overdo it a little bit, and things just kind of started linking arm-side,” Sale said. “After that inning, I kind of realized what I was doing.”
A key factor in Sale's consistent dominance since his rookie season in 2010 is the tunneling of his fastball and slider. Combined with his arm angle, throwing from well outside his body with an extended release, his fastball appears to move sideways even when it doesn’t. The slider, meanwhile, breaks sharply in that direction, making the two pitches look similar.
"That's why Sale's been good for so long,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “It really felt like after that first inning, he got into a really good rhythm and the slider really picked up. He started executing at a really high level with that pitch and settled in.”
Although the 37-year-old’s strikeout rate is down slightly from last season (29.6% this year compared to 32.4% in 2025), his 37% chase rate entering Wednesday is the highest of his 16-year career and the sixth best in the Majors.
He followed a similar script on Wednesday, striking out eight over seven innings while once again leaning on that fastball/slider combo. His slider generated a 54% whiff rate, and of his 96 pitches, six strikeouts came on the slider. His other two strikeouts came on the four-seamer, with Sale capping his night by retiring the final 10 batters he faced.
“We finally got some runs for him. It's been a few starts since we gave him some runs,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said. “Sale was Sale, so the bullpen typically gets some rest on the days that Chris starts, so that's always a good thing.”
Atlanta’s offense gave Sale room to work with two three-run home runs, including a homer from Dominic Smith to cap a 12-pitch at-bat and another from Austin Riley.
"That's big time,” Sale said. “You go out here and give up a run, give up the lead … you always want to be the team to score first. So I put the guys in a hole right out of the gate in the first inning … Riley kind of set the tone and then that one kind of blows it open, so it was a huge moment in that game.”