Yamamoto outduels Sale in rematch as Dodgers push Braves to brink of elimination

ATLANTA (Atlanta News First) - On Aug. 27, Atlanta Braves southpaw Chris Sale etched himself into the hearts of Braves Country and gave baseball fans everywhere a performance to remember.

“A taste of October,” Braves play-by-play announcer Brandon Gaudin said that night amid a raucous Truist Park atmosphere, as Sale tossed a five-hit, 11-strikeout complete-game shutout over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the finale of a three-game sweep.

Sale’s opponent, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, had a great game of his own, tossing 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball on four hits while striking out eight. But it didn’t match the brilliance of Sale’s masterpiece.

Forty days later, the two squared off again in a pivotal Game 3 of the National League Division Series. This time, Sale was human. Not invincible. And the Dodgers took a 2-1 series lead Tuesday with a 3-1 win, pushing the Braves to the brink of elimination.

“I thought the stuff was really good,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said postgame. “The Dodgers did a good job of really grinding at-bats and running up his pitch count. And they typically do that. They’re one of the lower swing rates in the league. They force you into the zone.

“The command wasn’t perfect, but the stuff was really good still with Chris.”

A taste of October, Gaudin said. Now it’s all on the line in Wednesday’s Game 4. If a Game 5 is needed, it will be Friday in Los Angeles.

Sale allowed a perfectly placed infield single to Mookie Betts and another baserunner on a Ha-Seong Kim error to open the game, but escaped by getting Shohei Ohtani to chase an 82.9-mph slider — his third strikeout of the inning after fanning Freddie Freeman and Will Smith. The 37-year-old left-hander then struck out Miguel Rojas, Andy Pages and Enrique Hernández in a scoreless second, working around a Kyle Tucker single.

But those innings came at a price. Sale averaged over 20 pitches through each of his first three innings, escaping trouble each time before the Dodgers broke through in the fourth on home runs by Hernández and Freeman for a 3-0 lead.

He was able to complete just five innings of work before getting pulled, setting the stage for Dylan Dodd, Dylan Lee, Brent Suter and Raisel Iglesias to pitch four scoreless innings in relief.

It was just the third time this season Sale has allowed two homers in a start and his first since July 4. The other was April 6, when he allowed a season-high six earned runs to the Angels — the only one of his 28 starts, including the postseason, in which he allowed more than three earned runs.

Yamamoto, however, cruised through seven innings, striking out 10 while allowing just one run on four hits. He has continuously risen to the occasion in the postseason — he became the first pitcher in Dodgers franchise history, and the 14th in MLB history, to earn three wins in a single World Series during the team’s 2025 run. He capped his World Series MVP run by throwing 2 2/3 scoreless relief innings to close out Game 7 on no days’ rest — and has put the Dodgers in prime position to advance to the National League Championship Series.

With their season on the line, the Braves will send right-hander Tyler Mahle to the mound against Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow. Mahle last pitched in Atlanta’s Game 2 loss to Philadelphia in the wild-card series, working seven innings while allowing just one run.