Chris Sale continues to dazzle as Braves shut out Cubs again

In his last four outings, Sale has allowed two earned runs in 25 innings. He struck out 34 while walking only two. The Braves are 4-0 in those starts and 6-2 overall with Sale pitching.

“I’m obviously happy with where we’ve been and where we are, but we have a long way to go,” Sale said. “I appreciate where we are, but that’s not a reason to hang your hat yet.”

The overall numbers recall one of Sale’s best days, which were cut short by a four-year injury streak that limited him to 151 innings for the Red Sox from 2020 to 2023. Sale has a 2.54 ERA over 49-2/3 innings this season. He owns a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 61:8, a stat that seems even more impressive when you consider that five of those walks came in Sale’s first three outings.

“When we got (the trade), you start to get excited about getting a guy of that caliber,” manager Brian Snitker said. And Sale has always shown why.

2. The Braves lost Spencer Strider for the season, but if Sale stays healthy, it looks like they’ll have another ace alongside Max Fried anyway. The trade had risks – and still does given his injury history and age (35) – but his addition looks bright for the franchise.

And then there’s Lopez, the converted reliever who has a 1.34 ERA in seven starts. Certainly, he has a strong case as the team’s best pitcher thus far. Even projecting some regression, signing Lopez was another smart move by president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos.

“Alex continues to amaze me with the moves he makes,” first baseman Matt Olson said. “He’s thinking about it. To be able to go get Lopez, he was in the bullpen last year, and have confidence in him to be a starter, and then go out and take Sale out a few years where he had injuries. Obviously the arms are great, but Lopez didn’t really extend the innings, and neither did Sale. Then they both were great. We have full confidence in Alex.

There are plenty of rounds left to play, but the idea of ​​a postseason rotation with Fried, Sale, Lopez and Charlie Morton seems interesting right now; a group capable of matching the Dodgers and Phillies, who boast excellent rotations of their own. But again, there is a long way to go.

Credit: Miguel Martínez

Credit: Miguel Martínez

3. Thanks to Sale, Lopez and the bullpen, the Braves shut out the Cubs on back-to-back nights. They have won six of seven games since being swept in Los Angeles, with the pitchers leading the way. Braves pitchers have allowed a combined nine runs in those seven contests.

“It’s a lot of fun (to be part of this rotation),” Sale said. “When everyone is firing on all cylinders, everyone is happy, right? Our attack is obviously unreal. So when we can go out there and do our job and avoid runs and still win these games, it’s kind of a back and forth situation. When pitchers are doing well, it takes some pressure off the offense. When the offense clicks, it takes the pressure off us. And it comes to a critical point and that’s when you start playing good baseball.

4. The Braves’ sleepy offense certainly looked alive during a fourth-six run. That was highlighted by first baseman Olson’s three-run shot against Jameson Taillon, who came away with a seven-run deficit after four frames. Outfielder Michael Harris II, who has shown signs of improvement recently, also homered, his first since April 19.

It was a long-awaited explosion. “These guys are all going to do it at some point,” Snitker said. The Braves had not scored seven runs in a game since April 19 (8). In fact, their six-run inning alone matched or exceeded their production in each of the last four games.

“I really don’t think we’ve completely clicked yet,” Olson said. “We had a big inning today, but overall we weren’t too successful. (Designated Hitter Marcell) Ozuna has been carrying the load for a while now. A few guys swung well, but we also had guys who didn’t fulfill their potential. We cut (receiver Sean Murphy). I just feel like we have more potential.

5. Olson also hit a double and narrowly missed another homer against the right field wall. He has two homers in his last five games – in 16 at-bats – after going 26 games without one (92 at-bats). Olson has been among the leaders in terms of rates of hard-hit people, so it seemed inevitable that he would start seeing results. He had five hits in eight at-bats after his home run.

“You want to experience days like this,” Olson said. “What happened last year (when he released historic numbers) happened last year. During the season, there are going to be things like droughts. Obviously you don’t want them to be very long, but every time you get those results it will be a good feeling.

Stat to know

7- Sale has covered seven innings in four of his eight starts, quite a feat considering how few pitches he has thrown in recent years.

Quotable

“It’s like playing summer baseball in college, just with brighter lights.” – Selling on how much he appreciates his new team

Following

The Braves will look to complete the sweep Wednesday when Charlie Morton (3-0, 3.14) takes on Javier Assad (3-0, 1.70). The Braves also swept the Cubs here in last season’s final home game, ultimately costing Chicago a wild-card berth.