Braves place reigning Cy Young winner Sale on injured list with fractured rib cage

MIAMI >> The Atlanta Braves placed reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale on the 15-day injured list Saturday because of a fractured left rib cage.

“He was doing his exercises (Friday) and felt like something wasn’t right,” manager Brian Snitker said before the Braves’ game Saturday against the Miami Marlins. “So they had him looked at and it showed what it showed.”

In his previous start, against the New York Mets on Wednesday, Sale sprinted off the mound and made a diving stop of a grounder hit by Juan Soto and threw him out for the first out in the ninth. He then struck out Pete Alonso and was lifted after allowing a single to Brandon Nimmo.

“It’s just a freak thing. An unfortunate thing,” Snitker said. “I saw him after the game that night and he was doing his postgame workout. And then I saw him the next day and I think he maybe felt a little uncomfortable the next day. But then (Friday) is when he wanted to get it checked out.”

Sale is 5-4 and has a 2.52 ERA through 15 starts this season. The 36-year-old left-hander threw a season-high 116 pitches and 8 2/3 innings against the Mets.

“It’s a tough blow for us and him,” Snitker said. “It was going so good. That’s a rough one.”

Vondrousova stuns Sabalenka 6-2, 6-4 for Berlin Open final against Wang

BERLIN >> Marketa Vondrousova upset top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 6-4 in their semifinal Saturday to set up a showdown with Chinese qualifier Wang Xinyu in the final of the Berlin Open.

Vondrousova, the 2023 Wimbledon champion, needed 1 hour and 21 minutes for her first win over a reigning No. 1.

Sabalenka staged a comeback Friday by saving four match points against Elena Rybakina in the quarterfinals. She had won all seven semifinals she played in this year but couldn’t find a response against the 164th-ranked Vondrousova, who missed three months of the season with a shoulder injury.

Sunday’s final will be Vondrousova’s first since she won at Wimbledon. Wang beat Liudmila Samsonova 6-4, 6-1 in their semifinal earlier Saturday to move into her first final.

Medvedev defeats old rival Zverev to reach Halle Open final, Bublik awaits

HALLE, Germany >> Daniil Medvedev ended home favorite Alexander Zverev’s hopes of grass-court glory with a 7-6 (3), 6-7 (1), 6-4 win in their Halle Open semifinal on Saturday.

Medvedev recovered from squandering three match points on Zverev’s serve at 5-6 in the second set and took nearly 3 hours to get past his old rival and reach his first final in 15 months.

“I could have done much better when I had the break in the second but it is normal,” Medvedev said. “The same happened in the third set that when I had the break, he started playing better, returning better. I am happy that in the third set I managed to stay more composed and managed to save those break points.”

It’s Medvedev’s fourth consecutive win over Zverev and it extended his lead to 13-7 in their head-to-head series.

The Russian player will face Alexander Bublik — who beat top-ranked Jannik Sinner in the second round — in Sunday’s final.

— The Associated Press

Bublik, the 2023 champion, fired 18 aces as he defeated Karen Khachanov 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 in the other semifinal.

Medvedev hasn’t played a final since March 2024, when he lost to Carlos Alcaraz at Indian Wells.

Zverev, who had been bidding to reach the Halle final for the third time, will have to wait for his first title on grass.

———

AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis