Braves to start Chris Sale on extra rest in NLDS Game 3 vs Dodgers

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Sale will start on extra rest for the Atlanta Braves in Game 3 of their National League Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday.

The NL East champions picked reliever Ray Kerr to start against two-time Cy Young Award winner Blake Snell in Game 2 on Sunday.

Atlanta lost the series opener 5-3 in a bullpen game on Saturday.

“At the end of the day, we want full-strength Chris Sale,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said before Game 2. “I know him at 80% is really good, but that’s what it came down to.”

Kerr started the NL Wild Card Series clincher against Philadelphia on Thursday, tossing 3 1/3 scoreless innings while striking out two in his postseason debut. The 32-year-old left-hander missed all of the 2025 season and the start of this season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.

Sale will have five days of rest before Game 4 on Wednesday. The Braves used him to get the final four outs against the Phillies after just one day of rest.

“We needed to win that series, and that was our best chance to do it,” Weiss said. “So I have zero regrets about pitching Chris Sale in that last game.”

Sale was 14-9 with a 2.16 ERA in the regular season and his 96.1 mph average four-seam fastball velocity was a career high. The 37-year-old left-hander often was given extra rest and that helped him stay strong and strike out 200 in 162 2/3 innings.

Weiss said Sale is not hurt or sore.

“We’ve given him extra rest all year, and it’s served him very well,” he said. “It allowed him to do what he did the other night.”

Sale will oppose 2025 World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 3 at Truist Park.

“Anytime you could have Chris Sale on the mound, you feel good about it,” Braves third baseman Austin Riley said.

Right-hander Tyler Mahle started Game 2 of the Wild Card Series after sustaining an abdominal pull during his pregame warmup. He threw a bullpen Sunday.

“He's responded well to treatment," Weiss said. "I think he’s going to be just fine.”

Atlanta's rotation has battled injuries this season.

Left-hander Martín Pérez would have been part of the postseason rotation before he was placed on the 15-day injured list late last month with lower back inflammation. The Braves also have lost starting pitchers Spencer Schwellenbach, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo López and Hurston Waldrep.

The best-of-five Division Series shifts to Atlanta on Tuesday and Wednesday, if necessary. A fifth game, if needed, would be played in Los Angeles on Friday.

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