Chris Sale kept it simple and right to the point when asked how he threw over 100 mph during his shutout victory over the Dodgers on Thursday.
Speaking with the Braves’ broadcast after the 1-0 win, Sale was asked the question, to which he replied deadpan: “With my arm.” The joke got a laugh on what was an impressive night for the 37-year-old, who threw a triple-digit fastball for the first time since 2018 while striking out 11 batters.
The shutout was Sale’s first since June 5, 2019, in Kansas City.
More impressively, Sale joined an elite club as only the sixth player at 37 years and 150 days old to throw 10-plus strikeouts without giving up a walk in a shutout, according to MLB statistician Sarah Langs.
Dating back to 1900, he joins Cy Young, Eddie Plank, Steve Carlton, Nolan Ryan and Randy Johnson as the only pitchers to do it at that age or older.
Equally as impressive was the fact that Sale found the heater in a battle against Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani in the third inning of the win.
Sale managed to get Ohtani, a four-time MVP, to swing at a pair of pitches before he threw the 100.1 mph fastball, which the two-way star fouled off.
Two pitches later, the slugger went down swinging at a slider.
Sale struck out Ohtani again in the fifth inning when the lefty got him to chase a 99.6 mph fastball way above the zone.
Sale has 24 starts under his belt this season and boasts a 2.06 ERA across 144 innings. He’s also struck out 177 batters.
