PHILLIES FALL TO CHRIS SALE AND THE BRAVES

BY ROCK HOFFMAN

What was shaping up to be a pitcher’s duel between the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner and a pitcher many think is destined to win the award quickly went awry. The Atlanta Braves scored four runs in the fourth inning off Zack Wheeler on the way to a 9-3 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. It allowed the Braves to gain a split in the day-night doubleheader at Citizens Bank Park and salvage one win in the three-game set between NL East rivals.

THE PHILLIES COULDN'T TOUCH THE BRAVES CHRIS SALE IN A 9-3 LOSS

Wheeler allowed a two-out walk in the first inning to Marcell Ozuna, then he retired eight batters in a row until Ozuna’s spot in the lineup came around again in the fourth inning. This time, the Braves’ designated hitter was safe on a broken-bat single to left field.  Matt Olson followed with a double to right field, and both runners scored when Austin Riley hit a ball just inside the third base line that went to the left-field corner. With Riley on second, Ozzie Albies homered to right with the ball barely clearing the wall and landing in the front row of seats. That was it, four straight hits and four runs.

“I wasn’t as sharp as I needed to be,” said Wheeler, who entered the game with a 22 and two-thirds inning scoreless streak but gave up six runs in five and a third innings. He allowed four hits and an equal number of walks while striking out six. “The first few innings were good, then they got a couple of hits, and it snowballed on me quick.”

It was all the Braves would need because Chris Sale was excellent. In 2024, Sale won his first Cy Young Award by leading the league in wins, strikeouts, and ERA to earn the pitching Triple Crown. In six innings against the Phillies, he allowed only two hits while walking three and hitting a batter; he had eight strikeouts. In the fifth inning, he faced a bases-loaded, two-out situation but got Alec Bohm, playing first base while Bryce Harper recovers from being hit by a pitch on the right elbow in Tuesday's game, to hit a groundball to shortstop.

“I just feel like he was in a zone,” said Phillies designated hitter Kyle Schwarber about Sale. “The slider was there, and he was adding and subtracting with it and spotting his fastballs in different areas. He's always tough. You never go into an at-bat thinking that it's going to be easy. You have to fight and grind, and whenever he does make that mistake, try to get to it.”

On this night, if Sale did make a mistake, the Phillies didn’t get to it.

The Phillies won the afternoon game 5-4 to record the team’s 100th win over the Braves at Citizens Bank Park.