Chris Sale added another milestone to his Hall of Fame resume.
The reigning National League Cy Young winner became the fastest pitcher in major-league history to reach the 2,500-strikeout milestone, breaking the record previously held by Hall of Famer Randy Johnson.
On his final pitch Thursday night, Sale struck out Edmundo Sosa of the Philadelphia Phillies to end the sixth inning for his 2,500th victim. The Atlanta Braves left-hander reached the milestone in 2,026 innings, besting Johnson’s record of 2,107 ⅔ innings in 1999.
In doing so, Sale also became the 38th pitcher in modern history to reach the milestone.
‘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’ 9-3 win 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.’
Said Braves manager Brian Snitker: ‘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.’
Sale, who is one of the highest-paid starting pitchers this season, is 3-3 with a 3.06 ERA through 12 starts this year. Last season, he went 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA and led the NL with 225 strikeouts en route to his first Cy Young award. During the course of his 15-year major league career, he has struck out 200-plus batters eight times and is one of four active pitchers with 2,500-plus career strikeouts, trailing Justin Verlander, Max Scherzer and Clayton Kershaw.