Chris Sale brings a 0.60 home ERA into blue jays - braves on Thursday night, and Atlanta is carrying the biggest division lead in baseball while Toronto arrives at 29-33. The Blue Jays have lost four straight and are patching together a pitching plan with three starters on the injured list.
Sale is scheduled to start for the Braves and has been sharp all season, going 8-3 with a 2.01 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. At home, he has allowed two runs in 30 innings, and both came on solo homers.
Sale and the Atlanta edge
That home split is the center of the matchup. Sale’s 4-1 record at home has come with a 0.60 ERA, the kind of number that changes how an opposing lineup has to approach the game from the first inning.
Toronto is trying to climb out of early-season struggles, but the assignment is steep. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and George Springer are a combined 10-for-41 against Sale, and Atlanta gets that history on top of the current numbers.
Toronto’s bullpen plan
The Blue Jays’ side of the game is unusual because DraftKings listed Mason Fluharty as the starter. He has not pitched more than 1.1 innings in any game this season, and he also pitched on Tuesday, which points to a short outing rather than a normal start.
Toronto’s bullpen has already thrown only 5 innings in the series, so the workload has been light there but the rotation has been thin. The Blue Jays entered at 29-33, still below.500 and trying to stop the slide before it grows larger.
Braves keep the pressure on
Jurickson Profar and the rest of the Braves lineup get a pitching matchup that tilts heavily toward Atlanta on paper. Sale’s home work this season, combined with Toronto’s recent form and the injury issues on the mound, leaves the Blue Jays looking for innings as much as runs.
For Toronto, the path is narrow: get through a game opened by a pitcher who has allowed only two solo homers at home all year, and do it while leaning on arms that have already been taxed in the series. For Atlanta, it is another chance to keep the division lead intact with Sale set to take the ball under the lights.
