Shortly after Chris Sale tossed a shutout against the Dodgers in late August, this space was dedicated to recognizing him as one of the greatest pitchers in Braves history.
That was before he finished the season on a run that might earn him runner-up in the Cy Young race (2.16 ERA). That was before his closing effort likely garnered him MVP votes. That was before he made his sterling postseason debut with the Braves, then reassumed the mound in relief two days later to send the hated Phillies home.
And that was before what looms Tuesday, when Sale can put the reigning two-time champion Dodgers — the team that supposedly broke baseball — on the brink of a very, very long offseason.
The Braves’ Game 2 gambit worked. They used a chorus of relievers, led by Ray Kerr and Didier Fuentes, to hold the Dodgers to just two runs, evening the National League Division Series and earning them home-field advantage. Rather than pitch a diminished Sale in Game 2 — which felt like a must-win to avoid an 0-2 hole — the Braves decided to hold him to be full strength for this moment.
“I’m excited for it,” Kerr said. “I love watching (Sale) pitch, especially when he threw that shutout game. I was in the bullpen, heart was pounding. It was amazing. I’m excited to see what he does Tuesday.”
While Sale made it clear he was available for Game 2, he noted what makes these Braves so cohesive is their trust and belief in each other. The internet meme poking fun at the “power of friendship” applies here, though the Braves have quite a bit of talent to pair with that camaraderie.
As a result, pressure shifts to the Dodgers. They have the superb Yoshinobu Yamamoto starting Game 3, but their topsy-turvy offense must now oppose the same man who performed nearly flawlessly the last time he saw them. Sale had 11 strikeouts with no walks that evening in helping the Braves complete a sweep.
It was perhaps Sale’s best outing with the Braves. Manager Walt Weiss was impressed after the performance.
“I always talk about how the Hall of Famers are just different, and that’s the perfect example right there,” Weiss said.
If Sale has already assembled a legendary legacy here before Tuesday, imagine what will be said about him if he corrals the Dodgers’ bats again.
“Baseball is a crazy game where anything can change on a given day,” Sale said Monday. “You want to have confidence in yourself and your team, but what you did yesterday means nothing in this game for today or tomorrow. I’m a firm believer in as soon as you think you have it right where you want it, it’s going to be gone. Very much so on the flip side, if you think it’s gone you might be able to get it.
“I have too much respect for the game of baseball. I have too much respect for those guys on the other side of the field to think because of a previous experience, the next one will be anything other than a grind. This is playoff baseball. That’s one hell of a team across the way. I’m prepared for another grind, another battle, and I just have to leave it all on the field and however it shakes out, that’s how it shakes out.”