In an August series that has felt more like October baseball, a pair of star pitchers with playoff experience will highlight a game with postseason implications.
Atlanta Braves veteran left-hander Chris Sale (12-9, 2.20 ERA) will oppose right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (12-7, 2.61) and the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers in the finale of the teams’ three-game series on Thursday night.
The Braves have won the first two games in dramatic fashion. They triumphed 4-3 on Tuesday before seldom-used Ha-Seong Kim delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth to lift Atlanta to a 6-5 victory on Wednesday.
The hit was Kim’s first since June 3.
“Those two games are about as good as it gets,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “So happy for Kim. To get a moment like that is poetic justice.”
Kim, who’s playing on a one-year, $20 million deal, was 5-for-76 (.066) before serving as the pinch-hit hero in the deciding game of the series. Now, the Braves trail the Dodgers by just two games for the second-best record in the National League, behind Milwaukee.
Sale, a World Series champion with the 2018 Boston Red Sox, will try to help the Braves sweep the three-game set with Los Angeles. The 37-year-old has enjoyed another stellar year in Atlanta but enters on the heels of a three-start losing streak.
Last time out, he allowed two runs on eight hits across six innings, striking out six and walking none in a 2-1 road loss to the Brewers on Friday. In the three losses, Sale has a 3.00 ERA and has struck out 23 batters.
The impressive figures mean little to the Triple Crown winner and 10-time All-Star if they come in a losing effort.
“I’m pretty black and white. I like to win,” Sale said on Friday. “I really don’t care about other numbers. I don’t care how it gets done. If I gave up nine runs and we win the game, I’d be in a whole helluva lot better mood than I am right now.”
In six career regular-season appearances (five starts) against Los Angeles, Sale is 1-3 with a 5.65 ERA. He allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits in seven innings of a 3-1 loss to the Dodgers on May 8.
The Dodgers entered this series riding a six-game winning streak but now will try to avoid their first sweep by the Braves since May 2013.
Delivering on the biggest stages hasn’t been a problem for Yamamoto in two-plus years with Los Angeles. The two-time World Series champ and reigning Fall Classic MVP again is leading a talented pitching staff.
Yamamoto is coming off a no-decision against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday in a game in which he allowed two runs on five hits in 6 1/3 frames. He struck out nine and walked one in a 5-4, 10-inning Los Angeles victory.
The 28-year-old phenom credits catcher Hunter Feduccia for a chunk of his recent dominance.
“I have a lot of trust in (Feduccia),” Yamamoto said. “The success rate that we have together is very high, so he really helps me out.”
Yamamoto is 1-0 and has thrown 10 scoreless innings in two career outings against Atlanta. He surrendered just one hit in a 2-1 win on May 2, 2025.
–Field Level Media
