(Photo credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images)

The Atlanta Braves will send ace Chris Sale to the mound Thursday night when they vie for a three-game sweep over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays.

Sale (8-3, 2.01 ERA) has resembled his 2024 National League Cy Young Award-winning form, when he went 18-3 with a 2.38 ERA.

In 11 starts this season, the left-hander has allowed more than two earned runs only once.

Last Thursday at Boston, Sale pitched five innings and allowed two runs, six hits and three walks in a 10-2 victory. He struck out eight for the third consecutive start.

'I felt like I did just enough to kind of keep us in it,' Sale said. 'I told (catcher Sandy Leon) after that it was really impressive how he got me through it, because my slider was going the other way. My fastball command was all over the place. But he got me through it.'

Sale has made 21 career appearances (18 starts) against the Blue Jays, going 8-5 with a 2.71 ERA. He last faced them in 2024 and tossed six scoreless innings.

'It's always a good day when Sale is on the mound for us,' Braves manager Walt Weiss said. 'We always feel good. It's not always going to be as easy as it looks for him. He had to really fight for it (Thursday) and he did. He always does.'The Blue Jays have not announced a starter for Thursday's series finale, but it could be Simeon Woods Richardson, who was acquired from Minnesota in a cash deal on Wednesday.

The right-hander had made 12 appearances (10 starts), going 0-7 with a 7.74 ERA for the Twins. To make room on the roster, Toronto moved left-hander Joe Mantiply, scheduled to have arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, to the 60-day injured list.

Toronto's bright spot has been outfielder Nathan Lukes, who extended his career-best hitting streak to 10 games after going 2-for-5 in a 7-3 loss to the Braves on Wednesday. He is hitting .444 during the streak. Lukes hit his first home run on Wednesday and lifted his batting average to .317.

'He is consistently giving us really good at-bats,' Toronto manager John Schneider said. 'You kind of know what you're going to get. He's a good player.'

But the Blue Jays have lost four straight games since climbing back to the .500 mark at 29-29 and are trying to prevent being swept for the third time this season.

'I'm trying to put the season in chunks, if you will,' Schneider said. 'We're definitely making progress in terms of how we played in May. It seems like the pitching has been really steady, and we're getting some traffic. It's just stringing and sequencing those hits together.'

Five of Toronto's last seven games have been decided by one run. The Jays are 8-12 this season in one-run games this season.

'It's frustrating when you're playing so many close games,' Schneider said. 'It feels like every night is kind of a one-run game and you want to have a few games in a row where you get some separation.'

The Braves are 17-9 in interleague games and are 17-2-1 in series this season.

--Field Level Media