ATLANTA (AP) — Chris Sale struck out 11 in a five-hit shutout, Drake Baldwin launched a leadoff homer against Yoshinobu Yamamoto, and the Atlanta Braves edged the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0 on Thursday night to complete a three-game sweep.
Sale (13-9) threw 80 of his 109 pitches for strikes and did not walk a batter, lowering his ERA to 2.06 with his first complete game in more than seven years. The 10-time All-Star posted his fourth double-digit strikeout game this season and the 95th of his career, which ranks seventh in major league history.
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Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale (51) celebrates with catcher Drake Baldwin after Sale won a complete game shutout of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers to an Atlanta Braves batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto reacts after giving up a leadoff solo home run to Atlanta Braves' Drake Baldwin during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Atlanta Braves' Drake Baldwin celebrates while rounding the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale delivers to a Los Angeles Dodgers batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Fans in the sellout crowd of 39,650 cheered when the left-hander strolled out to the mound for the ninth inning even though relievers were ready in the Atlanta bullpen. Braves manager Walt Weiss stuck with his 37-year-old ace after Freddie Freeman singled leading off the ninth.
Teoscar Hernández popped out, pinch-runner Alek Thomas was out at second on Miguel Rojas' fielder's-choice grounder and Sale struck out Alex Call for his 17th complete game and first since 2019 with Boston at Kansas City.
It was Sale's fourth career shutout and first since that three-hitter against the Royals on June 5, 2019. Sale threw a 100.1 mph fastball to Shohei Ohtani in the third, reaching triple digits on a pitch for the first time since July 2018 with the Red Sox.
Baldwin lined the first pitch from Yamamoto (12-8) into the right-field Chop House restaurant. It was Baldwin's fourth leadoff shot this season and 22nd homer overall. Yamamoto allowed only four hits with eight strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.
The NL East-leading Braves won the season series 5-1 against the Dodgers, who sit atop the NL West.
Braves shortstop Ha-Seong Kim, hitting .078, was rewarded with a start after his game-winning, pinch-hit single with two outs in the ninth inning of Wednesday night's 6-5 win over the Dodgers. Kim singled and stole second base in the third.
Dodgers: LHP Tarik Skubal (8-7, 2.91 ERA) will make what is expected to be an emotional Detroit homecoming when he starts Friday night's series opener at the Tigers.
Braves: RHP Grant Holmes (8-5, 3.64 ERA) is scheduled to start when the Braves open a three-game series against RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (12-7, 4.96) and the Colorado Rockies.
See AP’s full MLB coverage here
Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale (51) celebrates with catcher Drake Baldwin after Sale won a complete game shutout of the Los Angeles Dodgers during the ninth inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto delivers to an Atlanta Braves batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto reacts after giving up a leadoff solo home run to Atlanta Braves' Drake Baldwin during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Atlanta Braves' Drake Baldwin celebrates while rounding the bases after hitting a solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale delivers to a Los Angeles Dodgers batter during the first inning of a baseball game, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Erik S. Lesser)
McMINNVILLE, Tenn (AP) — U.S. officials said about 90 U.S. citizens remained unaccounted for Thursday, a day after catastrophic flash floods engulfed a border area of China and Nepal, killing hundreds of people. A spiritual organization said that 22 Americans associated with it were unaccounted for.
In a statement, the U.S. State Department said it is not aware of any U.S. deaths, but three Americans have been rescued.
Many of the missing were on a pilgrimage to Mount Kailash in Tibet, a sacred site for Hindus, Buddhists and others.
Social media posts were surfacing Thursday from loved ones pleading for people to provide updates or circulate information about Americans they had lost contact with — a Virginia woman traveling with a tour group, a Texas couple on a birthday trip and a mother accompanying her 14-year-old daughter.
Among those on a guided tour was Venus Rajnikant Patel, a 45-year-old Indian-born U.S. citizen who recently moved from St. Louis to Cincinnati to help his family.
Patel’s brother, Dennis, said Venus called him and their parents a few hours before the floods, showing them his hotel room on the Nepalese side of the border and talking about how excited he was to cross into Tibet. He had been planning the pilgrimage for two years, his brother said.
Patel’s friend Jolene Gosha said she and her friends knew Patel was in Nepal and were devastated when they realized his hotel was right along the border where the floods swept through.
“We’re just hoping, hoping that by some chance he was able to climb his way out of it,” Gosha said. “I don’t want to give myself false hope because I know the reality is that he's probably not with us.”
Gosha described Patel as an avid traveler who loves dancing and frequently organizes surprise “flash mob” performances for his friends’ weddings and birthdays.
“He’s always smiling from ear to ear,” Gosha said. “He’d dance so goofily and didn’t care who was watching.”
Another American who is missing is 72-year-old Jitendra Patel, a Long Island resident who was with a tour group on a Hindu pilgrimage to Mount Kailash, according to his son, Sunny Patel. Jitendra last called Wednesday morning local time on WhatsApp to say that he had crossed the border into Tibet.
When Sunny first saw video of the flooding he thought no one could survive it, Sunny said. He then contacted his mother to ask about his father’s whereabouts. His mother said Jitendra was in the exact same area as the flooding.
“My heart sank,” Sunny said, adding that he “didn’t think it was possible that my dad would be there at ground zero.”
Sunny described his father as the “life of the party” who loves playing golf and socializing. Jitendra is retired but drives Uber for fun because he can talk to people.
Sunny and his family are somber but “maybe hopeful,” Sunny said. But they haven’t heard from Jitendra. WhatsApp messages sent to him aren’t being delivered, Sunny said.
“It gets worse by every hour, obviously,” he added.
Indian spiritual guru Jaggi Vasudev, also known as Sadhguru, said in a post on X that 77 people returning from Mount Kailash with groups organized by his Isha Foundation were at an immigration center in Gyirong, Tibet, when the floods struck. Leslie Crespi, a community liaison for the foundation's U.S. campus, said that 22 of them were Americans affiliated with the foundation and that three volunteers supporting the trekkers were also at the immigration center when the floods hit.
“We had communication with the coordinator of the group at about 9:05 Nepalese time saying that they had arrived there. And then by 9:14 is when this flash flood hit,” Crespi said.
The trekkers were “like family,” Crespid said. And for many people that go on the treks to Nepal, it’s a “lifelong dream to go and be there,” she added.
The Isha Foundation is a spiritual organization based in India and its U.S. campus, the Isha Institute of Inner-sciences, is a yoga and meditation retreat center located in the mountains near McMinnville, Tennessee.
At a candlelight vigil in New York City on Thursday, Tak Ruwali, a Long Island resident who is from one of the Nepalese districts affected by the flooding, said that he is talking with people in Nepal and many regional tourist guides are “out of contact now."
“It means they are probably gone,” Ruwali added.
Talking to reporters in the Oval Office on Thursday, President Donald Trump said U.S. officials have spoken with Nepalese leaders and offered to provide “anything they want.”
Trump said there were 50 or 60 Americans in the area but added that a full accounting hasn’t been completed.
Associated Press writers Matthew Lee and Collin Binkley in Washington and Josh Kelety in Phoenix contributed to this report.
People walk past damage in the aftermath of flash floods in Devighat in the Nuwakot district in Nepal, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
Damage is seen in the aftermath of flash floods in Devighat in the Nuwakot district in Nepal, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Niranjan Shrestha)
A government helicopter conducts a rescue mission amidst the devastation left by flash flooding in Nepal's Nuwakot district, Thursday, Aug. 27, 2026. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
