Sale’s Sunday Night outing

Chris Sale gave Atlanta six steady innings on Sunday night, holding Cleveland to one earned run and striking out six. (espn.com) The start came in the Braves’ 13-1 win over the Guardians on April 12 at Truist Park in Atlanta. Sale worked six innings, allowed one run, and kept Cleveland quiet while Atlanta’s lineup scored 13 runs on 19 hits. (mlb.com) Sale is 37 and opened 2026 as Atlanta’s ace after winning the National League Cy Young Award in 2024. ESPN’s game log lists him at 2-1 with a 3.94 earned run average and 16 strikeouts through his first three starts this season. (espn.com) His Sunday line followed two very different April outings. He allowed one run in six innings against the Athletics on April 1, then gave up six earned runs in four innings against the Los Angeles Angels on April 6. (mlb.com, espn.com) That swing helps explain why this start drew notice: Atlanta got the version of Sale that works deep enough to hand the game to its bullpen with a lead intact. By Monday, April 13, the Braves were 9-6 and back at the top of the National League East standings on ESPN’s table. (espn.com) Sale’s first three starts also show the shape of his early season. He threw six scoreless innings against Kansas City on March 27, six innings with one run allowed against the Athletics on April 1, and four rough innings against the Angels before Sunday’s bounce-back against Cleveland. (espn.com) MLB.com reported on April 1 that Sale was battling illness during that Athletics start and leaned on location more than pure velocity. In that game, his fastball sat in the low 90s and still reached 94 to 96 miles per hour. (mlb.com) Sunday night looked more like the stabilizing work Atlanta expected when it built its rotation around him. For one national television game, six innings and one earned run were enough to put Sale back at the center of the Braves’ early-season picture. (mlb.com, espn.com)