Chris

Sale

Sale was cruising through five scoreless frames, allowing just one hit until the Dodgers got to him in the sixth. Shohei Ohtani led off the frame with a base hit, then Mookie Betts put the Dodgers on top with a two-run blast. Tommy Edman followed with a single. That would be it for Sale. Edman would eventually score, ending Sale’s night with three runs allowed and five strikeouts over five innings. The 36-year-old left-hander is in line to take on the Phillies in Atlanta next Tuesday.

Sale exited with a one-run lead that lasted for one inning before Hector Neris gave up a homer and two more hits as part of a four-run seventh. Sale struck out seven and allowed a total of five hard-hit balls. That the Padres managed to steal three bases off him and Drake Baldwin directly led to one run. It already seems like teams want to take advantage of Baldwin’s arm.

Atlanta boasts one of the strongest starting rotations in baseball and that’s without strikeout machine Spencer Strider (elbow) ready for Opening Day. It’ll be Chris Sale, López, Schwellenbach and prospect AJ Smith-Shawver taking the ball in San Diego before Grant Holmes is forced to contend with the defending World Series champion Dodgers’ offensive juggernaut out in Los Angeles.

Sale closes out a strong spring with a 2.79 ERA and a 20/5 K/BB in 19 1/3 innings. He’ll take on the Padres on Opening Day.

It’d be kind of weird if the defending Cy Young winner wasn’t starting Opening Day, wouldn’t it? Sale had a career resurgence in his first season with Atlanta, and the 35-year-old has as good of swing-and-miss stuff as any pitcher in baseball. The only question mark with Sale is health, but the reward is well worth the risk.

The runs scored on homers from Triston Casas and Alex Bregman. Sale is sporting a 3.52 ERA and a 15/4 K/BB in 15 1/3 innings. There didn’t figure to be any lingering concerns from his back troubles at the end of last year, but it’s still good to see him looking so strong this spring.

Sale retired eight of nine to begin the game, but he then gave up a walk and a homer with two outs in the third. As it turned out, his only remaining out came when Josh Lowe tried to stretch a single into a double to begin the fourth. This wasn’t a Statcast game, but Sale’s stuff seemed fine. The runs were the first he’s allowed in three spring starts.

Sale struck out four. He plunked a batter and walked another today, but he’s yet to give up a hit in six innings this spring. He obviously didn’t have any problem throwing to youngster Drake Baldwin today, either. Baldwin is likely to open the season behind the plate for Atlanta with Sean Murphy out.

Sale gave up a couple of hard-hit balls on his slider, but he got through six Twins regulars without incident. His fastball velocity was down one mph from last year’s average, but that’s perfectly acceptable for a spring opener.

The eight-time All-Star finally nets his first career Cy Young Award, receiving 26 of 30 first-place votes, after finishing among the top six in balloting a whopping seven times since 2012. The 35-year-old southpaw finished last season with a league-best 2.38 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 225/39 K/BB ratio across 177 2/3 innings (29 starts) in his remarkable Braves debut. Despite his omnipresent durability concerns, Sale will enter next season as a consensus top 10 starting pitcher in fantasy drafts. Phillies ace Zack Wheeler received the other four first-place votes in balloting to come in second, while Pirates rookie sensation Paul Skenes followed with a distant third-place finish.