Chris Sale Smashed Himself in the Head With a Baseball During Nightmare Inning

Chris Sale did not appear to have a good time on the mound Monday night as the Braves lost his latest start to the Angels. He gave up a leadoff home run to Zach Neto on the first pitch of the game, and that was far from the lowlight of the evening.

Things settled down for a short time after that homer as he retired the next nine batters he faced. But in the bottom of the fourth, things absolutely fell apart, and Sale could not hide his frustration. In fact, he let it show in multiple ways.

After getting ahead of Jorge Soler, 0-2, he hit the outfielder in the foot. Then he gave up a single to Jo Adell and walked Jeimer Candelario on a full count. When catcher Drake Baldwin tossed the ball back to him, he tried to grab it with his bare hand, but dropped it. That obviously didn't make him feel any better because he picked the ball up and hit himself in the head with it.

Chris Sale was not happy with himself... and he let it show pic.twitter.com/esRZUWuutB
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 7, 2026

After working another full count on Logan O'Hoppe, he walked him to force in a run. Then he recorded an out before hitting his second batter of the inning. That one left Sale doubled over with his hands on his knees before he angrily slammed the rosin bag onto the mound. He ended up giving up another run and left the inning down 4-1.

Like a trooper, Sale went back out there to start the fifth, but he would not record a single out as he gave up a single to Soler on the first pitch he threw and then a home run to Adell on the second. It was Adell's first home run of the season. It would be the last pitch Sale threw.

Jo Adell hits bombs too! pic.twitter.com/gVFHEHnREx
— Talkin' Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) April 7, 2026

Sale exited the game with seven strikeouts in four innings, but gave up five hits and six runs, including two home runs. He walked two and hit two more batters and was credited with his first loss of the season. It was his worst outing of the season and the first time he gave up five earned runs in a game in almost exactly one year. With the two hit batters on Monday, he now leads MLB in HBP. He previously led baseball in that category in both '15 and '16 in Chicago.

This was the Braves’ third straight loss, and they are currently in fourth place in the NL East, but four of the five teams in the division have six wins, and the last-place Nationals have four. Just two weeks into the season, there is plenty of time to turn things around.

As for Sale, this could just be a very angry bump in the road. At 37 years old, he's just two seasons removed from winning the Cy Young, and he was very good in his first two starts of the season, throwing six innings and picking up the win in both. Coming into the game against the Angels, he had only given up four hits and one run.