Braves lose ace Chris Sale for wild-card round in crushing injury blo

The Braves season has been defined by overcoming injuries and their postseason journey will be more of the same. NL Cy Young favorite Chris Sale has been after experiencing back spams in a crushing blow to the teams chances. The Braves now will , who has appeared in seven career games, on Tuesday night in Game 1 against the Padres. Chris Sale will not pitch in the NLDS. AP Losing Sale puts the Braves in a brutal spot in their best-of-three series and also raises questions about his availability should Atlanta advance. The Braves had held Sale for the second game of Mondays doubleheader in case they had to win, and after the they seemed set to start Sale. Explore More Sale, though, had experienced back spasms and they learned Monday he could not pitch in the second game. Braves manager Brian Snitker said after the 3-0 win in the second game that Sale likely would not be available against the Padres, but they were holding out hope. One day later, they will now have to try to down a strong Padres team without their ace. Sale, 35, went 18-3 Eguy Rosario Jersey with a 2.38 ERA, striking out 225 batters in 177 2/3 innings all numbers that won him the National League pitching Triple Crown. AJ Smith-Shawver starts for Sale in Game 1. Getty Images His back flared up during his last start on Sept. 19 against the Reds, and roughly two weeks later he is still not ready to return to the mound. (Sale) is crushed, Braves president of baseball operations Alex Anthopoulos said Monday, . There was a little bit of, Should he go out there or not? But ultimately at the end of the day, if youre not at your best and you dont ultimately believe you can help your team and you can hurt yourself, its not a good outcome acro s the board. Chris Sale throws a pitch against the Dodgers on Sept. 14, 2024. Getty Images Smith-Shawver, 21, threw 4 1/3 scorele s innings this season at the major-league level and has to sed just 29 2/3 MLB innings in his MLB career. He went 3-8 with a 4.85 ERA in the minors, with 20 of his 21 starts coming in Triple-A. The Padres have -174 odds at FanDuel to win the series, with the Braves coming in at +146. The winner will face the top-seeded Dodgers in the ALDS. Jeremiah Estrada Jersey