Chris Sale became the fastest pitcher to reach 2,500 strikeouts, pitched six scoreless innings and the Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies 9-3 on Thursday night to split a doubleheader.
The Phillies won the afternoon game 5-4.
Sale (3-3) struck out Edmundo Sosa in the sixth inning for his eighth strikeout, to reach the milestone. He did it in 2,026 innings, surpassing the record of 2,107 2/3 set by Randy Johnson.
Sale became the 40th pitcher in major league history to reach 2.500 strikeouts and joined Clayton Kershaw, Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer as the only active pitchers to have reached that plateau.