Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale made sure manager Walt Weiss knew he was ready to help the team finish off the National League Wild Card Series against the Philadelphia Phillies. The veteran southpaw sought out his manager before Thursday's winner-take-all Game 3 at Truist Park and made his intentions clear.

Weiss said he had no plans to ask Sale if he could pitch on two days’ rest because he already knew what the answer would be.

“I knew that if he was hanging, he would tell me, I was not going to bring that up,” Weiss said after Atlanta's 6-2 series-clinching win. “But literally as soon as I stepped in my office this afternoon, he was sitting in the chair across my desk and he looked at me and he said ‘I feel amazing.'”

Great story from Walt Weiss, who has done an outstanding job this season. https://t.co/sYvhz1OMuB

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) October 2, 2026

Weiss responded, “Well, let’s talk,” and the pair developed a plan for Sale's potential appearance. The expectation was that Sale could face the top of Philadelphia's lineup at some point during the eighth or ninth inning.

The plan required several other pieces to fall into place first. Ray Kerr opened the game, followed by Grant Holmes, Robert Suarez and Didier Fuentes before Dylan Dodd handled the eighth inning. The Braves' offense also provided the necessary cushion.

Michael Harris II opened the scoring with a three-run homer against Aaron Nola in the first inning. Ozzie Albies added a two-run shot against Zack Wheeler in the fourth, while Matt Olson's solo home run in the seventh pushed Atlanta's advantage to 6-1.

Article Continues Below

Sale had begun warming up in the top of the seventh, but Olson's home run changed Weiss' approach. Dodd started the eighth instead and surrendered a leadoff triple to pinch-hitter Derek Hill, who scored on Trea Turner's sacrifice fly.

Dodd then remained in the game to face Kyle Schwarber and retired the regular-season home run leader with a flyout. That brought Bryce Harper to the plate, setting up Sale's entrance.

Sale struck out Harper on four pitches, with three sliders chased outside the strike zone. The final pitch reached the backstop, but Drake Baldwin recovered it and threw Harper out.

With closer Raisel Iglesias warming up, Sale returned for the ninth inning. Four batters later, the Braves had secured the series and earned a National League Division Series matchup with the Los Angeles Dodgers.

Sale finished with four outs over 21 pitches in 1⅓ innings. He had also started Game 1, recording the first 19 outs of the series in Atlanta's 5-3 victory.

That made Sale the first pitcher to start Game 1 and finish the same postseason series since Sale himself did it for the Boston Red Sox in the 2018 World Series. He also joined Clayton Kershaw as the only pitchers to accomplish the feat multiple times in postseason history.