Braves’ Chris Sale joins unique company of Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer, Clayton Kershaw after historic outing

Veteran Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale pitched a gem against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday to help the team to a 9-3 win, avoiding a series sweep in Philadelphia.

Sale's scoreless six innings not only helped the Braves get into the win column after consecutive defeats but also thrust him into the elite company on a prestigious pitching list.

The 36-year-old lefty had eight strikeouts in the game with his final K taking him to 2500 career strikeouts. He is the fourth active MLB pitcher after Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw and Max Scherzer, all future Hall of Famers, to the milestone.

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While Sale is in elite company on the list for most strikeouts among active pitchers, he stands tall in another prestigious list. He surpassed Hall of Famer Randy Johnson, one of the greatest pitchers of all time, to become the first hurler to reach 2500 strikeouts in less than 2,026 innings.

Chris Sale's status as a perennial All-Star pitcher was solidified with seven consecutive appearances from 2012 to 2018. However, a few injury-riddled campaigns followed by a 6-5 season with the Red Sox in 2023 saw his stocks decline.

But his move to the Atlanta Braves in 2024 has seen Chris Sale rediscover his discipline from the mound as the veteran ace dominated last year to win his maiden CY Young award. Thursday's outing was a glimpse of his Cy Young winning credentials from last season.

Chris Sale reflects on breaking MLB icon's record.

Chris Sale's outing was backed by the Braves offense, who punished Phillies' veteran ace Zack Wheeler on a rare off day for the ace. While Sale would have been proud of breaking his idol, Randy Johnson's record, he didn't think much of it.

“I appreciate it for what it is, but I try not to get too caught up in stuff like that right now,” Sale said. “I know what our job is here. And no matter whether you have a good one or a bad one, the next one is the most important one.”

Sale's 2025 season has been shaky, and Thursday's start handed him a much-needed win, taking his record to 3-3 with a 3.06 ERA.

About the author

Chaitanya Prakash is an editor who covers US Sports at Sportskeeda. His first brush with sportswriting was in 2012 when the greatest football manager of all time, Sir Alex Ferguson, bid farewell to the beautiful game.

Although having started out professionally as a cricket writer in 2022, Chaitanya's curiosity and indiscriminate interest in all sports in general eventually introduced him to America's favorite pastime.

While Chaitanya's favorite player from the current crop is the dynamic Venezuelan Ronald Acuna Jr., his all-time favorite, however, is Pedro Martinez, for his self-belief and consistency. He also rates Jose Bautista's iconic bat flip in 2015 as his favorite moment in baseball history.

Chaitanya specializes in reporting on technical aspects of the game or analyzing patterns behind specific plays. He also likes pondering over players' self-assessments following the conclusion of a game as it helps him get an idea of how they think about the sport in general.

When not cheering for his favorites across sports, Chaitanya likes being transported to the past through a good war documentary or a historical documentary in general.

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Edited by Chaitanya Prakash