Chris Sale throws like a man possessed. The Atlanta ace shut out the Dodgers last night with an 11-strikeout, five-hit masterpiece, completing a sweep of the NL West leaders in the process. It’s the seventh consecutive quality start for Sale, who has only allowed more than three runs in an appearance once this season. That happened on April 6, when the Angels hit him for six runs in four innings. Since then, Sale has pitched 128 innings of a 1.83 ERA with a comical 161-to-23 K/BB ratio. There’s a decent gap between Sale’s 2.06 ERA and that of NL-leading Jacob Misiorowski, and Sale is also 24 1/3 innings behind Philadelphia’s Cristopher Sánchez for the NL innings lead (168 1/3 to 144). Sale, 37, is still making the NL Cy Young a true three-horse race, however, and if he continues to dominate like this while Miz or Sanchez falter, it’s not out of the question that he could win the second Cy Young Award of his tenure in Atlanta. We’ll keep an eye on that down the stretch, but here are three things to watch for today: 1. Skubal back in Detroit Tonight, two-time American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal returns to the only home ballpark he’d known in the majors until his Aug. 1 trade to the Dodgers. Skubal and the Dodgers are set to begin a three-game series in Detroit, and he will take the mound tonight opposite former teammate Drew Anderson. Skubal hasn’t been Cy Young Award-caliber in Los Angeles, although the 3.38 ERA, 30.3% strikeout rate and 7.1% walk rate he’s posted in four starts are clearly excellent. He’s coming off an 11-strikeout performance against the Pirates. There are sure to be plenty of emotions tonight, both for Skubal and the Tigers faithful. “You never know how people are going to react,” former Tigers teammate Troy Melton tells Carlos Monarrez of the Detroit Free Press. “You know, some people are going to feel one way. It’s probably going to be mixed. I think it’s going to be more positive. In my opinion, I think it should be more positive than negative… Skoob is the man and he was great for this organization, so I think it would be right if we didn’t do that.” [and boo]. But it’s his decision and it’s part of the game.” Dodgers captain Dave Roberts tells Jack Harris of the California Post that he hopes “a lot of people applaud.” [Skubal] forward” but that his new southpaw will rise above any emotion and focus on the task at hand: “I think that whole saying of ‘be where your feet are’, I think that’s what he is. Some people have a hard time letting go. But I think Tarik is a guy who, wherever he is, gives it his all.” 2. Rays Stadium Vote Hillsborough County Commissioner Ken Hagan last week called a special meeting for this morning where the county will vote on the Rays’ latest stadium proposal. The Tampa City Council voted to approve the plan yesterday, pledging $80 million in city funding. The county would need to provide nearly $800 million in financing, while the Rays themselves are committing to about $1.4 billion in private financing, as well as any excess. Nicolas Villamil of the Tampa Bay Times provides several details on the city council’s 4-3 vote in favor yesterday, as well as some of the hurdles the proposal may face in the county this morning The vote is the latest in a seemingly endless quest for the Rays to build a new stadium in the Tampa area, an idea that has been backed by new majority owner Patrick. Zalupski and his team since former owner Stu Sternberg sold the club last year. 3. Jenkins debuts with the Twins The Twins are calling up top outfield prospect Walker Jenkins for his major league debut The former No. 5 overall pick is a consensus top-10 prospect in the game who has taken Triple-A pitching by storm this season. The 21-year-old is hitting. .323/.417/.559 with 14 home runs, 17 steals, a huge 13.3% walk rate and a small 15.4% strikeout rate this season. Jenkins has missed some time due to injury, but is the most highly touted Twins prospect in years and has the potential to establish himself as a fixture in the heart of Minnesota’s order for years to come. He joins another recent first-round pick. round, shortstop Kaelen Culpepper, to get the call up to Minnesota after the deadline. Culpepper has hit the ground running with a .333/.381/.526 line and three home runs in his first 63 major league plate appearances. They’re the best pair of prospects the Twins have promoted in such close proximity in quite some time, and that duo will give Twins fans a taste of what the future holds in the meantime. Minnesota is trying to stay alive in a lackluster American League wild card chase.
