Chris Sale is still in the game as the Atlanta Braves overtake the Giants 3-1

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

Both teams traded scoreless frames to start today’s game, but it wasn’t to stay scoreless for long. In fact, Austin Riley and Travis d’Arnaud each hit back-to-back singles to start the second inning, giving the Braves a chance to score some runs. Adam Duvall ended up being the man of the moment as he kept the line alive with a double, putting the game 1-0 for the Braves. No one was out yet, so there was obvious hope at this point that the Braves could make this a big inning. Unfortunately, that wasn’t to be, as Forrest Wall, Zack Short, and Jarred Kelenic all went down, leaving a bit of a letdown in the second inning.

In the third inning, Austin Riley hit a sharp line drive to left field, but Luis Matos made a pike catch in left field, denying him an extra-base hit that would have surely given him a lead. In the fourth inning, the Braves put a runner in scoring position after Forrest Wall walked and immediately stole second base. All of this happened with two outs, however, so Zack Short couldn’t put the runner in. In the fifth inning with two outs, however, the Braves managed to get something going, and it started in one of the strangest ways imaginable.

Ozzie Albies was at bat with one out in the fifth inning and hit a foul ball that bounced into the dugout at a fair speed and ended up colliding with Brian Snitker in a very tricky spot. Fortunately, Snitker was OK, but you know he must have been very uncomfortable for a moment after being hit by a ball that was foul in more ways than one.

Almost as if in response to their manager’s gut issues, the Braves’ bats came to life. Marcell Ozuna hit a single, Matt Olson hit a single, and then Austin Riley hit a double that brought both Ozuna and Olson home and put the game at 3-0 for the Braves. It was nearly 4-0 after Travis d’Arnaud hit a single 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, which upon closer inspection turned out to be an out.

That meant Chris Sale had three runs to breathe heading into his sixth and final inning. While it would have been nice if Sale had finished the night with six scoreless innings, that wasn’t the case as the Giants finally scored a run in that inning. Old friend Jorge Soler opened the sixth inning with a double and was finally redeemed after Matt Chapman hit one just down the left field line on a full count, resulting in a double that cut the deficit to two runs and put San Francisco on the scoreboard. Chris Sale got Luis Matos to groundout before the end of the inning and if we’re all being honest, everyone in the building and the viewers at home would have assumed Sale only allowed one run in six innings in that game.

The seventh inning began with high expectations, as the Braves greeted Luke Jackson rudely on the Cobb County mound with a leadoff single. Jackson then made his own situation worse by committing a throwing error on a fielder’s decision, and so the Braves had runners on the corners with no one out. Things quickly went downhill for Atlanta, however – Forrest Wall was caught stealing, then Zack Short hit a grounder to shortstop and Adam Duvall was thrown out wide at home. Jarred Kelenic then struck out and the hopeful inning was quickly over.

AJ Minter returned from the injured list in the seventh inning and was also roughly brought back to the mound, as he was hit by a comebacker with his very first pitch. The good news is that this did not mean the end of Minter’s night, as he simply batted the ball down and made the play at first base. The rest of the inning remained scoreless, meaning this was a successful first appearance since AJ Minter’s injury. Joe Jiménez got the ball for the eighth inning and benched the Giants’ pinch hitters in order. San Francisco went with two pinch hitters in the eighth inning, but that didn’t matter to them when it came to Jiménez, who made sure Atlanta went into the ninth inning with at least a two-run lead.

The two-run lead remained when Raisel Iglesias got the ball. Iglesias has been very reliable this season and that was no different tonight. Matt Chapman hit a one-out single, giving the Giants the potential tying point from that point on, but in the end it didn’t matter. Iglesias got Luis Matos to pop out and then struck out Brett Wisely to end the game and put the Braves back on the winning list.

Our long, national nightmare is over as the Braves have not lost three games in a row. Now they’re looking to follow up their two-game losing streak with a two-game winning streak as they look to win the series against the Giants tomorrow night at 7:20 p.m. ET. Charlie Morton will be looking to beat Logan Webb and Morton will also be looking to pick up where Chris Sale left off. Sale has been brilliant this season and his performance tonight was another accolade for the veteran.