{"id":872095,"date":"2026-10-05T22:42:45","date_gmt":"2026-10-05T22:42:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/872095\/"},"modified":"2026-10-05T22:42:45","modified_gmt":"2026-10-05T22:42:45","slug":"ace-chris-sale-is-fully-rested-for-game-3-against-dodgers-giving-braves-their-best-case-scenario","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/872095\/","title":{"rendered":"Ace Chris Sale is fully rested for Game 3 against Dodgers, giving Braves their ‘best-case scenario’"},"content":{"rendered":"

ATLANTA \u2013 Walt Weiss heard what he described as \u201cscreaming\u201d from those who criticized his decision to have Ray Kerr<\/a> open a bullpen game for the Atlanta Braves in Game 2 of the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.<\/p>\n

The critics thought Weiss should have started Chris Sale in Game 2 so the ace left-hander might also be an option if a Game 5 is necessary.<\/p>\n

A Game 2 start on Sunday would have been normal rest for most pitchers, but the 37-year-old Sale has thrived this season when given extra rest. Also, Sale recorded the final four outs as a reliever in Thursday night’s 6-2 win<\/a> over the Philadelphia Phillies to clinch the NL Wild Card Series.<\/p>\n

Weiss acknowledged on Monday \u201cit’s satisfying\u201d that his decision to use his bullpen worked out so well in the Braves’ 3-2 Game 2 win<\/a> that evened the best-of-five series 1-1.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the end, yeah, as we sit here today, it\u2019s the best-case scenario that we could possibly have,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cNow we win the game, we win the bullpen game, and now we have a fresh Chris Sale ready to go.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sale is expected to start Game 3 on Tuesday night against Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto, the 2025 World Series MVP.<\/p>\n

Sale was 14-9 with a 2.16 ERA in the regular season. He said Monday he told Weiss he could start on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI told him I was available,\u201d Sale said. \u201cI felt confident in my ability to go out there and be able to perform at a high level. I really felt confident in myself in starting Game 2. I reiterated that plenty of times to them. Again, this is a team game. This isn\u2019t about me, this isn\u2019t about one guy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Full strength Sale vs. diminished Sale<\/p>\n

Weiss agreed Sale could have been good by most pitchers’ standards on normal rest. The manager said he preferred a fully rested Sale.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you have Sale in Game 2 and Game 5, as people were screaming about, we saw it as you\u2019re getting a diminished Chris Sale twice at that point,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cWe wanted to get a full-strength Chris Sale, and that\u2019s Game 3.\u201d<\/p>\n

Weiss left open the possibility Sale could pitch in relief if there is a Game 5.<\/p>\n

Respect from the Dodgers<\/p>\n

Kerr threw 2 2\/3 scoreless innings and right-hander Didier Fuentes gave up one run in 3 2\/3 innings before closer Raisel Iglesias earned his second save.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I mean, it\u2019s a good bullpen out there,\u201d Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas said. \u201cThey\u2019re throwing the ball really well. They got guys with big arms, and they know how to use them. So you\u2019ve got to give credit to the opposition, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the back-to-back bullpen games by the Braves “showed that they\u2019re going to use any pitcher, try to get every matchup possible. Obviously them pushing Fuentes to almost four innings … shows they\u2019re going to ride certain guys, and obviously they use their bullpen accordingly.\u201d<\/p>\n

Braves right-hander Tyler Mahle is expected to start Game 4 on Wednesday night.<\/p>\n

Depleted rotation put relievers in spotlight<\/p>\n

Led by Kerr, Atlanta’s six relievers combined to allow six hits and two runs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe took a lot of shots at how we approached that game, but in the end it all worked out,\u201d Weiss said, adding the bullpen has been the team’s most consistent strength as the Braves faced a long series of injuries that left the rotation depleted.<\/p>\n

Left-hander Mart\u00edn P\u00e9rez<\/a> was expected to be part of the postseason rotation before landing on the 15-day injured list on Sept. 24 with lower back inflammation. The Braves also have lost starting pitchers Spencer Schwellenbach, Spencer Strider, Reynaldo L\u00f3pez, Bryce Elder and Hurston Waldrep this season.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

\nSee AP\u2019s full MLB coverage here<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ATLANTA \u2013 Walt Weiss heard what he described as \u201cscreaming\u201d from those who criticized his decision to have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":872096,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[58368,90189,4284,99956,229348,18559,363,40811,367403,136689,184452,18702,99,100993,51047,8963],"class_list":["post-872095","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-bryce-elder","tag-chris-sale","tag-dave-roberts","tag-didier-fuentes","tag-martin-perez","tag-miguel-rojas","tag-mlb","tag-raisel-iglesias","tag-ray-kerr","tag-reynaldo-lopez","tag-spencer-schwellenbach","tag-spencer-strider","tag-sports","tag-tyler-mahle","tag-walt-weiss","tag-yoshinobu-yamamoto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872095","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=872095"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/872095\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/872096"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=872095"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=872095"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=872095"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}