Chris Sale made baseball history on Thursday with his last pitch of the night.

The Atlanta Braves ace fanned the Philadelphia Phillies’ Edmundo Sosa to end the sixth inning, the 2,500th strikeout of Sale’s career.

The left-hander became the fastest in baseball history to reach the 2,500-K milestone, getting there in 2,026 innings. The record previously was held by Randy Johnson, when he fanned his 2,500th batter after 2,107 2/3 innings in 1999.

“I appreciate it for what it is, but I try not to get too caught up in stuff like that right now,” Sale said after the Braves closed out a 9-3 win to gain a split of a day-night doubleheader in Philadelphia. “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.”

Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said of Sale, “He’s kind of doing Hall of Fame stuff. That guy is probably as big a baseball fan as anybody, just the history of the game and the competition. He’s a ballplayer, and it’s really cool to watch.”

After allowing two hits and three walks while striking out eight Phillies, Sale is 3-3 with a 3.06 ERA through 12 starts this year.

While his numbers are decent, they are far off the production he managed last year en route to winning the National League Cy Young Award. Sale won the pitching Triple Crown by leading the league in wins (18), ERA (2.38) and strikeouts (225). He took just three losses and also topped the majors in fewest homers allowed per nine innings (0.5) and most strikeouts per nine innings (11.4).

Sale, 36, is an eight-time All-Star who helped the Boston Red Sox win the 2018 World Series. He has pitched for the Chicago White Sox (2010-16), Boston (2017-19, 2021-23) and Atlanta (2024-25).

He owns a career 141-86 record with a 3.04 ERA in 384 career games, 304 starts.

–Field Level Media