Chris Sale delivered a vintage performance Thursday, throwing his first complete game since 2019 to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 1-0 victory and a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers. The 37-year-old left-hander struck out 11, walked none, and scattered five hits over 108 pitches, lowering his ERA to 2.06 — second only to Jacob Misiorowski in MLB. Sale hit 100.1 mph with a fastball to Shohei Ohtani in the third inning, his fastest pitch since July 6, 2018, and added a 99.6 mph heater for a strikeout two innings later. "You can make an argument that... he's as good now as he's ever been," manager Walt Weiss said.

Sale became the oldest pitcher with a 10-strikeout, no-walk shutout since Randy Johnson's 2004 perfect game, and the oldest to blank the Dodgers since Rick Reuschel in 1987. His 28th career game with 10+ strikeouts and zero runs ties Max Scherzer for fifth-most since 1893, trailing only Johnson, Pedro Martinez, Roger Clemens, and Nolan Ryan.

Atlanta's lone run came on a first-pitch solo homer by Drake Baldwin off Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The win pulls the Braves (79-55) within one game of L.A. for the NL's No. 2 seed. Sale pitched with a heavy heart after learning of the death of close family friend Ashley Foss, 42, saying, "There's no question that was her out there."