Instead, Sale will start against the Mets with that series beginning Tuesday and going through Thursday. The 36-year-old will get some extra rest, and also won’t be wasted against the worst team in baseball. Grant Holmes will start Sunday’s game instead.

Sale had three 10-strikeout games this season, but he had yet to reach 11, something he fixed tonight. Since going 0-2 with a 6.17 ERA in his first five starts, Sale is 4-2 with a 1.41 ERA and a 75/18 K/BB over 57 1/3 innings in nine starts. He’ll make his next start at home against the Rockies, so we’re already on no-hitter alert.

Do you remember in April when Sale was struggling? Me neither. He tore through this Diamondbacks lineup with slider after slider and was virtually unhittable. The only run they were able to scratch across came after a lead-off walk, fielder’s choice, and then a single by Lourdes Gurriel that dropped into right-center field. Sale’s only real problem in this game was going up against Merrill Kelly, who shut the Braves’ ice cold offense out over seven innings. He’s set for a two-start week coming up against the Brewers on the road and then the Rockies at home.

The 36-year-old southpaw scattered two hits and three walks on the evening. The only real threat against him came in the fifth inning as Trea Turner was hit by a pitch and Kyle Schwarber worked a two-out walk to load the bases, but Sale got Alec Bohm to ground out to shortstop to end the threat. Sale generated eight whiffs on 102 pitches on the evening — seven of those on his slider — while registering a CSW of 27 percent. Now 3-3 on the season, he’ll bring a 3.06 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and an 86/19 K/BB ratio (67 2/3 innings) into Wednesday’s showdown against the Diamondbacks.