Fastball

Atlanta Braves' Cy Young Candidate Ties Sandy Koufax in Baseball History w/ Monday Gem

The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants on Monday night in a classic pitcher's duel. With a brilliant 7.0 inning performance, lefty Chris Sale moved up an impressive list in baseball history.

Brady Farkas

Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale (51) delivers against the Milwaukee Brewers in the first inning at American Family Field on July 31.
Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale (51) delivers against the Milwaukee Brewers in the first inning at American Family Field on July 31. / Michael McLoone-USA TODAY Sports
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The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants 1-0 in extra-innings on Monday Night at Oracle Park.

The win was massive for Atlanta, who moved to 62-56 on the year. They currently lead the battle for the third and final wild card spot in the National League by 1.0 game over the New York Mets.

This game was a classic pitcher's duel, with Chris Sale going 7.0 shutout innings for Atlanta. He gave up just three hits and no walks. He struck out 12. On the other side, Giants' lefty Blake Snell went 6.1 innings. He gave up two hits and three walks while striking out 11.

With the dominance, Sale moved up an impressive and historic list in the baseball record books, according to @StatsCentre on social media:

Most career games by a pitcher of 0 earned runs, 3 or fewer hits allowed and 12+ strikeouts:
23- Nolan Ryan
13- Randy Johnson
11- @Braves Chris Sale (Via his performance in a 7 inning no decision on Monday night vs the Giants)
11- Sandy Koufax
9- Pedro Martinez
8- Clayton Kershaw

Considering that Koufax is one of the best lefties of all-time, it's incredible that Sale has tied him on this list. It's been a great bounceback year for Sale, who is finally healthy after injury-plagued years in 2020-2023.

He's 13-3 on the season with a 2.61 ERA and is absolutely putting himself in conversation for the National League Cy Young Award.

Sale made the National League All-Star Game as well, and his contributions have been even more valuable to Atlanta given that Spencer Strider is out for the year.

The Braves and Giants will do battle again on Tuesday night with first pitch coming at 9:45 p.m. ET.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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