Braves ace Chris Sale has spent 16 years building one of the most intimidating résumés in baseball, carving through lineups with the kind of intensity that makes hitters look defeated before the at-bat even starts. But Thursday night at Truist Park delivered a reminder that even one of the sport’s fiercest competitors can accidentally become the funniest guy in the stadium.
The Braves ace turned in another dominant outing despite Atlanta falling 2-0 to the Cubs. Sale struck out eight over six innings and allowed just one unearned run, continuing a stretch that has quietly become one of the best runs by any pitcher in baseball this season. His ERA dropped to 1.96, and he became the only pitcher in the majors to complete at least six innings while allowing two earned runs or fewer eight different times this year.
Yet the moment everyone inside Truist Park will remember had nothing to do with his slider.
Sale’s Hilarious Mix-Up Leaves Braves Dugout Laughing
It came in the fourth inning after Miguel Amaya swung through strike three. With Michael Busch standing on first base, Sale apparently lost track of the outs for a split second. Catcher Drake Baldwin, fully aware the inning was over, tossed the ball toward first baseman Matt Olson instead of back to the mound.
That’s when Sale sprang into action. Thinking there were only two outs, he urgently pointed toward first base to alert Olson that Busch had wandered off the bag. For a brief moment, Sale looked completely locked into turning a routine strikeout into a surprise double play.
Then realization hit. The inning was already over.
As the crowd reacted, Sale paused, lifted the brim of his cap with one finger, and tilted it sideways in mock embarrassment before jogging off the field laughing at himself. It was one of those rare baseball moments where a player’s instant self-awareness somehow made the mistake even funnier.
Braves manager Walt Weiss said the reaction immediately reminded him of another memorable Sale moment from a few weeks earlier against Philadelphia. After snagging a screaming line drive that nearly hit him in the face on April 26, Sale casually turned around and checked his pants as if making sure he had survived the experience.
“When you’re at that level, I think it’s probably easier for those guys to slow the game down whenever they want,” Weiss said. “You know, when he got that comebacker at him a few weeks ago, he catches the ball and then he turns around and checks his pants.”
Another Dominant Outing Gets Wasted
The comedy came during another frustrating night for Sale personally. The Braves offense, which leads Major League Baseball in runs scored with 237, has suddenly gone quiet when he takes the mound. Atlanta has scored just one total run across Sale’s last two starts despite him continuing to pitch at an elite level.
Thursday’s lone Cubs run came after a defensive mistake in the sixth inning. Ha-Seong Kim’s errant throw while trying to turn a double play put runners on the corners and eventually allowed Ian Happ to score on Matt Shaw’s fielder’s choice.
Sale was also tagged with tough luck in his previous outing against the Dodgers after another defensive error contributed to a 3-1 loss. Even with the lack of support, the Braves still finished a difficult stretch by winning series against both Los Angeles and Chicago.
“It was just one of those nights,” Sale said. “It’s a tough night. It’s going to happen, but you know, you can’t forget that’s a really good ballclub over there, and we won the series.”
Hall Of Fame Numbers Keep Growing
While Thursday’s mental lapse drew laughs, Sale’s larger body of work continues placing him in rare company.
The veteran left-hander now owns 151 career wins, a 2.98 ERA, and 2,643 strikeouts. Only nine pitchers in MLB history have at least 150 wins, 2,500 strikeouts, and a career ERA under 3.00. The names surrounding Sale include Tom Seaver, Walter Johnson, Pedro Martínez, Bob Gibson, Cy Young, and Clayton Kershaw.
Kershaw and Sale are the only pitchers in that group not already elected to the Hall of Fame.
“He’s right there with the greats,” Weiss said.
On Thursday night, one of baseball’s most dominant pitchers briefly forgot how many outs there were. Somehow, it became the most entertaining moment of the game.
