Vintage Sale Shuts Down Panthers as Braves Stay Alive

Sammy Linedriv - TABL Beat Writer

The Buffalo Braves weren’t ready to pack up just yet. Facing elimination on Thursday night at Marcy Park, they turned to their veteran ace, and Chris Sale answered the call with a performance that felt like a throwback to his finest days.

Sale, all rhythm and precision, carved through the Brooklyn Panthers for 8⅔ innings, striking out eight and allowing just three hits in a 4–1 victory that sent the series back to Buffalo for Game Six.

The tone was set early. Buffalo, so quiet in recent games, found its spark against Brooklyn starter Tanner Bibee. In the first inning, Josh Naylor ripped a run-scoring double into the right-field corner, and Christian Yelich followed with a two-run shot to the gap in right-center. Two innings later, William Contreras added another RBI double down the line, pushing the lead to 4–0.

That was all the cushion Sale needed. From there, he turned the game into a masterclass, locating corners, changing eye levels, and moving hitters off the plate just enough to keep them guessing.

At one point, he retired fifteen straight Panthers, and Brooklyn never advanced a runner beyond second base until the ninth.

Juan Soto broke the shutout with a solo home run, but by then, the night belonged entirely to Sale. Blake Treinen came on for the final out, sealing the win and keeping Buffalo’s season alive.

“Chris was vintage tonight,” said manager Phil Nevin afterward. “We just needed one guy to stop the bleeding, and he gave us everything.”

Bibee, meanwhile, struggled with command in his five innings of work, surrendering four runs on six hits and four walks. The Brooklyn bullpen — Derek Law, Clay Holmes, and Tommy Kahnle, kept things close, but the Panthers’ bats couldn’t solve Sale’s late-summer magic.

It was Brooklyn’s first home loss of the postseason, and it trims their series lead to 3–2. The Braves will now head home to Sahlen Field for Game Six, their confidence restored and their hopes alive.

“We’ve been counted out before,” Yelich said afterward, smiling. “We just have to do it again.”

Game Six is set for Saturday night in Buffalo — and for the first time all series, the Panthers might feel the weight of the moment. W – Sale (1–0)

L – Bibee (0–1)

SV – Treinen (1)

HR – Soto (BKN)