Chris Sale continues to play as Atlanta Braves fall 3-1 to Giants

Chris Sale was once again a force to be reckoned with on the mound. The veteran pitcher allowed just one run in six innings while striking out nine as the Atlanta Braves held on for a 3-1 victory over the San Francisco Giants.

Both teams traded scoreless innings to start tonight’s game, but the score wouldn’t stay scoreless for long. Austin Riley and Travis d’Arnaud each hit back-to-back singles to start the second inning and gave the Braves a chance to score runs. Adam Duvall ended up being the man of the moment, as he kept the ball rolling with a double to make it 1-0 for the Braves. There was still no out, so at this point the obvious hope was that the Braves would be able to turn this into a big inning. Unfortunately, that never happened as Forrest Wall, Zack Short and Jarred Kelenic all went down to leave a bit of disappointment behind them in the second inning.

In the third inning, Austin Riley hit a fly ball to left field, but Luis Matos dove for a base hit. In the fourth inning, the Braves managed to put a runner in scoring position after Forrest Wall walked and then stole second base immediately after, but this all happened with two outs, so Zack Short couldn’t cash the runner. However, the Braves managed to get something going in the fifth inning with two outs and it started in one of the strangest ways possible.

Ozzie Albies was at bat with one out in the fifth inning and he hit a foul ball that bounced around the dugout at a pretty high rate of speed and ended up colliding with Brian Snitker in a very awkward spot. Fortunately, Snitker was okay, but you know he must have been seriously uncomfortable for a while after being hit by what was a foul ball in more ways than one.

Almost as if in response to their manager’s middle-field woes, the Braves’ bats came alive. Marcell Ozuna singled, Matt Olson singled, and then Austin Riley hit a double that set up Ozuna and Olson to score to make it 3-0 for the Braves. The score was nearly 4-0 after Travis d’Arnaud singled to right field. Unfortunately for Atlanta, Austin Slater’s throw from right field reached home plate just in time for Curt Casali to make a great tag that was confirmed as an out upon further review.

That meant Chris Sale had three runs of breathing room to work with before his sixth and final inning. While it certainly would have been nice to see Sale finish the night with six scoreless innings, that wasn’t the case as the Giants finally pushed a run over the plate in that inning. His old friend Jorge Soler led off the sixth with a double and it was eventually cashed in after Matt Chapman hit one straight down the left field line on a full count for a double that cut the deficit to two runs and put San Francisco on the board. Chris Sale got Luis Matos to pop out before ending the inning and if we’re all honest, everyone in the building and the fans at home would have preferred Sale to have allowed just one run in six innings in that inning.

The seventh inning started with high hopes, as the Braves welcomed Luke Jackson to the mound in Cobb County with a leadoff single. Jackson then made his own situation worse by making a throwing error on a fielder’s choice and, just like that, the Braves had runners on the corners with no outs. Things quickly went downhill for Atlanta, though — Forrest Wall was caught stealing, then Zack Short grounded out to shortstop and Adam Duvall was thrown out by a mile. Jarred Kelenic then grounded out and the hopeful inning was quickly wiped out.

AJ Minter returned from the injured list in the seventh inning and got a very unpleasant reception when he returned to the mound, as he was hit by a returning batter on the first pitch he threw. The good news is that it didn’t end Minter’s night, as he simply hit the ball and made the play at first base. The rest of the inning was scoreless, meaning it was a successful first outing after AJ Minter’s injury. Joe Jiménez picked up the ball for the eighth inning and rested the Giants, who were pinch hitters, in order. San Francisco used two pinch hitters in the eighth inning, but that didn’t matter to them when it came to Jiménez, who ensured Atlanta would head into the ninth inning with at least a two-run lead.

The two-run lead was still there when Raisel Iglesias got the ball. Iglesias has been very reliable this season and that didn’t change tonight either. Matt Chapman hit a one-out single to give the Giants the potential tying run at the plate from that point on, but it didn’t matter in the end. Iglesias got Luis Matos to walk and then struck out Brett Wisely to end the game and put the Braves back in the win column.

Our long national nightmare is over as the Braves avoided losing three straight games. They will now look to follow their two-game losing streak with a two-game winning streak as they attempt to clinch the series against the Giants tomorrow night at 7:20 p.m. Charlie Morton will look to get the better of Logan Webb and Morton will also look to pick up where Chris Sale left off. Sale has been brilliant this season and his performance tonight was another feather in the veteran’s cap.