Chris Sale became the fastest pitcher to reach 2,500 strikeouts, pitched six scoreless innings and the visiting Atlanta Braves defeated 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 MLB 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.

Sosa was the last hitter Sale faced. He allowed just two hits in his six shutout innings.

Austin Riley had a double, a homer, and four RBIs, Ozzie Albies homered and drove in three, and Luke Williams had a pair of RBIs for the Braves, who snapped a three-game losing skid.

Zack Wheeler (6-2) allowed six runs in 5 1/3 innings for the Phillies, who lost for just the second time in their last 13 games.

In the opener, backup catcher Rafael Marchán hit a two-run homer, drove in the go-ahead run when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth and caught two runners stealing.

Marchán put the Phillies ahead 2-0 with his blast in the third and scored with a headfirst slide on Trea Turner’s fifth-inning infield single after reachiong on a walk and advancing on a passed ball and grounder. Marchán was nicked on a shin protector by a bounced slider from Daysbel Hernández (3-1).

Michael Harris III tied it at 4-4 for Atlanta with an RBI double in the top of the eighth.

Sean Murphy homered and had an RBI single, and Ronald Acuña Jr. had a pair of hits and an RBI for the Braves.

Kyle Schwarber slugged his 20th homer for the Phillies to tie the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani for the major league lead.

Braves rookie starter A.J. Smith-Shawver left with a strained right elbow in the third, one batter after taking a 96.6 mph line drive off his right ankle, a ball hit by Bryson Stott. The 22-year-old right-hander appeared to say “pop” toward Brian Snitker, and the manager said: “It doesn’t look good.”

Smith-Shawver, who is 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA in nine starts, was placed on the 15-day injured list between games.

Blue Jays 12, Athletics 0: Ernie Clement homered and had five RBIs, Bo Bichette homered and drove in three runs, and host Toronto used an eight-run second to rout the struggling Athletics.

José Berríos (2-2) and two relievers combined on a four-hitter as the Blue Jays recorded their second straight shutout and fourth of the season.

The Athletics have lost three straight and 14 of 15, getting outscored 117-44 in that span.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run homer and George Springer added a solo shot for Toronto. Alejandro Kirk reached base four times, scored twice and drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

Berríos struck out nine in six innings to win for the first time since April 7 at Boston.

Athletics left-hander Jacob Lopez (0-3) allowed seven runs and six hits in 1 2/3 innings.

Position player Willie MacIver out of College Park High handled the final inning for the A’s, throwing pitches that averaged around 40 mph. He allowed three hits but no runs.