CHICAGO – The Braves haven’t yet clinched the National League East title. But their comfortable division lead has enabled them to ensure will get an extended breather before his final regular-season start and then make his first postseason start with extra rest.  

Instead of pitching in this weekend’s series against the Astros, Sale will carry six extra days of rest into his regular-season finale on Wednesday against the Reds. Braves manager Walt Weiss discussed the decision before an 8-4 loss to the Cubs on Wednesday night at Wrigley Field.

“It’s a little bit of an extended break,” Weiss said, “but we feel it sets him up for the postseason.”

Extra rest has been highly beneficial for Sale, who ranks third in the Majors with a 2.18 ERA. The 37-year-old hurler has made just two starts on regular rest this year, with the most recent occurring on April 6. He has posted 1.67 ERA in the 13 starts made with one extra day of rest and a 2.17 ERA in the 11 starts he has made with more than one extra day.  

With Sale making his final regular-season start next Wednesday, he’ll be set up to start Game 1 of the National League Wild Card Series with one extra day of rest.

Even with Wednesday’s loss, the Braves still have a 4 1/2-game lead over the second-place Phillies with nine games remaining.

With Bryce Elder recovering from a recent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee, Atlanta had to start Reynaldo López in the opener of this three-game series at Wrigley Field and JR Ritchie in the series finale. Their respective performances showed why neither had been projected to factor into the Braves’ postseason plans.  

López allowed five runs over three innings of Monday’s loss and then was placed on the injured list after revealing he’s been bothered by right shoulder discomfort throughout this season. Most of Ritchie’s discomfort came courtesy of top NL MVP candidate Pete Crow-Armstrong, who enjoyed his seventh multihomer game of the season in the finale.

Crow-Armstrong walked, homered and tripled against Ritchie, who allowed six earned runs and seven hits over 4 2/3 innings. The 23-year-old hurler was making his ninth start of the season and first since Aug. 2        

Fortunately for the Braves, they will be starting Tyler Mahle, Grant Holmes and Martín Pérez in their three games against the Astros this weekend. Each of these three pitchers are projected to join Sale as part of Atlanta’s postseason plans.