Drake: Braves’ Chris Sale Shakes Off Illness, Dominates Athletics
drake — Chris Sale shook off an illness to allow only one baserunner in six innings and lead the Atlanta Braves to a 5-1 win over the Athletics on Wednesday in Atlanta (ET). Sale labored without his usual velocity but relied on focus and command to carry him through six dominant frames. Manager Walt Weiss and Sale both framed the outing as unexpected given how sick Sale felt before the start.
Sale’s dominant outing
Sale (2-0) retired every Athletics hitter he faced except for a fourth-inning homer by Shea Langeliers that barely cleared the left-field wall — the lone blemish on an otherwise spotless line through six innings. Despite recognizing in pregame warmups that he didn’t have his normal speed, Sale found ways to keep hitters off balance and handed the game to the bullpen after six innings. Sale said, “You’re not going to have your best stuff every time. I really try to raise my focus on that day. Reaching for more stuff when it’s not there is not really the way. I knew I had to find a way to make it a game. “
Walt Weiss was blunt about the lead-up: “He was sick as a dog. We didn’t even know if he was going to be able to make that start. I was hoping to get three innings out of him. In the best-case scenario, maybe four. ” Weiss added that Sale gave the club far more than expected and called the performance “unbelievable” given the circumstances.
Immediate reactions
The Braves left-hander celebrated his 37th birthday two days earlier and had opened the season with six scoreless innings on Opening Day. Sale has moved past Hall of Famers Bob Feller and Warren Spahn for the 30th spot on the career strikeout list, and with three more strikeouts on Wednesday he inched closer to another milestone tied to Tom Glavine. The club sees Sale as a key piece in its push to return to the postseason after an injury-filled prior year, and his six-inning effort provided a stabilizing lift amid spring training injuries to other pitchers, including Spencer Schwellenbach and Hurston Waldrep and the late-camp placement of Spencer Strider on the injured list.
The win left Atlanta at 4-2 through two home series. “It’s nice, but we’re not going to hang our hat on it yet. We’re one week in, ” Sale said, noting the importance of getting off on the right foot and the clubhouse energy after the victory.
Drake Baldwin on strong performance vs. A’s
One of the day’s headlines read “Drake Baldwin on strong performance vs. A’s, ” presented alongside coverage of Sale’s outing. While Sale dominated on the mound for Atlanta, that separate headline appeared as another item attached to the Athletics-Atlanta game day narrative.
What’s next
Atlanta heads to Arizona for its first road trip, carrying momentum from a clean, if early, start to the season and a performance that exceeded pregame expectations. The immediate focus is on Sale’s condition after a start thrown while ill and on how the rotation and bullpen manage innings with several pitchers recovering from injury; observers will watch whether the scoreboard and the health reports through the next series keep attention on Sale rather than on drake-related talking points that surfaced in the day’s headlines.
