LOS ANGELES — Hoping to have left-hander Chris Sale available to start Game 2 of the National League Division Series on Sunday, the Atlanta Braves turned to left-hander Ray Kerr instead as their starter against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Braves had been waiting on Sale’s availability after the staff ace recorded the final four outs of the wild-card-round clincher against the Philadelphia Philles on Thursday.
“We’ll have some conversations about this,” Braves manager Walt Weiss said after the Braves’ 5-3 road loss in Game 1 of the best-of-five series on Saturday. “So, not sure who’s going to start. That’s where we’re at right now.”
Sale’s next opportunity to start a game will come in Game 3 on Tuesday at Atlanta. The Dodgers already named ace right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto to start that game, creating a matchup of dynamic starters.
Sale and Yamamoto squared off Aug. 27, also at Atlanta, and the Braves walked away with a 1-0 victory to finish off a three-game series sweep behind a complete-game shutout from Sale.
Kerr, 32, takes the mound after he started Thursday’s wild-card clincher against the Phillies when he went 3 1/3 scoreless innings on one hit. Kerr had a 1.47 ERA in nine appearances (one start) for Atlanta during the regular season.
