Braves avoid sweep at Pittsburgh, but lose Ronald Acuña Jr. for season

Here are five observations from Sunday:

1. Of course, all anyone wanted to know after the game was how serious was Acuña’s injury?

The speculative answer, from him before testing, was: not as bad as his 2021 ACL tear.

“(We) think (compared to the Miami one), this one is not that difficult,” Acuña said through Eddie Perez, the Braves manager who interpreted his answers for reporters . “It’s not that painful and I haven’t heard any noise or anything, so I feel good. We don’t think it’s that serious.

The Braves later discovered the full extent of the injury. The worst possible news after an MRI revealed a complete tear and the stunning announcement was made. The surgical procedure will be scheduled at a later date.

In the top of the first inning, Acuña rushed toward third base as the catcher threw the ball back to the pitcher, but he quickly stopped and turned around. His knee seemed to give way and he fell to the ground.

Eventually, he limped off the field.

“Well, he walked off (the field),” manager Brian Snitker said. “Yeah, absolutely worried.” We won’t know until we look into it, which we can’t do at the moment.

2. The Braves had lost both games here. They were facing a potential sweep and a road trip in which they won two of six games.

The perfect situation for sale.

“He loves, I think, those times when we need him,” Snitker said. “It’s almost like he thrives on it.” It was still huge today.

Sale ran his scoreless streak to 21 innings with a scoreless first frame before the Pirates scored a run on him in the second. But he ended up allowing just that run in seven innings.

Snitker is right – Sale knew how much his team needed him on Sunday.

“I think you go into every start and you want to win, right? he said. “But we’ve had some tough times the last few days and you want to end on a good note when you go home. Big blow with Ronnie there at the start of the match. You want to kind of stop there and do some positive things and get us on the right track.

Sale, who has struggled with injuries in recent years, has completed seven innings in six of his last eight starts.

He wants the ball when the team needs it most.

“He’s been through a lot of scenarios in his career,” Matt Olson said. “No moment is too big for him. It’s the same guy in spring training, and I’m sure if he goes to the World Series, I’m sure it’s the same guy.

3. We’re witnessing perhaps some of the best pitching of Chris Sale’s career — a career, incidentally, that has seen him finish in the top five in Cy Young Award voting in six straight seasons at a given moment.

If you put together Sale’s last six starts, including Sunday, you get this: His current streak might be the second-best streak of his accomplished career.

Sale, who pitched seven innings of one-run baseball against the Pirates, has allowed just three earned runs in 39 innings over his last six starts.

The only stretch better than that in Sale’s career: a 10-start stretch in 2018, when he allowed just three earned runs in 55 innings.

Sale’s 2.12 ERA ranks ninth in the MLB and fifth in the National League. His 78 strikeouts are fourth-most in the sport. Opponents are hitting .193 against Sale – the eighth-best batting average of opponents in MLB.

4. Including this weekend, the Braves have played three series at PNC Park since acquiring Olson in 2022. In two of them, Olson put balls into the Allegheny River.

In Sunday’s eighth inning, Olson crushed a 420-foot solo home run that flew over the right-field fence and into the river to greet reliever Aroldis Chapman.

“Yeah, it’s cool,” Olson said of sending one into the river. “There are little landmarks like that. And from Chapman, who was a difficult AB, and still is a difficult AB. Being able to do that is good.

Maybe you could see it coming: In his previous at-bat, Olson launched a two-run double over the high right-field wall. This gave the Braves a three-run cushion.

And in the eighth, two batters after Olson homered, Adam Duvall added one to finish a great offensive afternoon.

Another highlight: Jarred Kelenic, who entered the game for Acuña, recorded his third three-hit game of the season. In his first at-bat, he rushed for an infield single, which allowed him to score on Ozzie Albies’ double and tie the game.

“I mean, it led to a run,” Kelenic said of the scramble for an infield single. “I could feel a hit the second that ball hit the ground, so I was going to do everything I could to get there and beat him to the bag.”

5. You’ll love this quote from Sale, which gives perspective on the 30-20 start and how, heading into Saturday’s game, the Braves had an identical record through 49 games last season.

“That’s kind of one of the good things about this team is there’s no panic,” he said. “We don’t have parties for wins and we don’t beat ourselves up about it when we’re down. I think there is a lot to be said about the current situation. To think that they were the best team in the league last year and we’re in the same situation this year, with some things that happened, that’s a really good sign. We just have to continue on this path and keep our heads high, keep working, and it’s going to be like this.

Stat to know

73 – Olson’s home run was the 73rd home run to land in the Allegheny River since PNC Park opened in 2001.

Quotable

“Yes, I was very scared, because I felt the pain at first, but it’s been going away for a while.” -Acuña at the moment he fell to the ground

Following

The Braves and Nationals begin a four-game series Monday, Memorial Day. Charlie Morton will face Nationals left-hander Mitchell Parker in the opener, which begins at 4:10 p.m.