May 21, 2024 2:26 AM : Sale (7-1) earned the win over San Diego in the second game of Monday's doubleheader, allowing five hits and no walks while striking out nine batters over seven scoreless innings.
Analysis: Sale dominated a Padres offense that had put up 18 runs in winning the first three games of the series, racking up 18 swinging strikes and registering his third straight scoreless outing. The left-hander fell one punchout shy of his second double-digit strikeout effort of the campaign and has now fanned at least nine batters in four straight appearances, recording exactly nine strikeouts three times during that span. Sale has accumulated 19 scoreless frames over his past three starts with a 28:1 K:BB during that span, giving Atlanta a dominant hurler to help ease the early-season loss of Spencer Strider (elbow). Sale is tied for second in the league with seven victories, ranks 11th with a 2.22 ERA and is tied for fifth with 70 punchouts.