Fastball

Atlanta Braves Stud Just Misses Out on Electric Franchise History on Friday

Chris Sale pitched well as the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals on Friday, but he still fell just short of some awesome franchise history.

Brady Farkas

Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale (51) pitches against Washington Nationals during the first inning at Truist Park on Aug 23.
Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale (51) pitches against Washington Nationals during the first inning at Truist Park on Aug 23. / Jordan Godfree-USA TODAY Sports
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The Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 3-2 in 10-innings on Friday night at Truist Park in Atlanta. With the win, the Braves are now 69-59 on the year. They maintain control of the third and final wild card spot in the National League.

Starting pitcher Chris Sale didn't factor into the decision, but he did continue his solid bounceback season on the mound. The lefty went 7.0 innings and allowed just two earned runs. He did give up nine hits, but was able to minimize damage. He walked one struck out four. He has a superb 2.62 ERA on the season and will likely factor into the Cy Young discussion.

However, because he only registered four strikeouts, he just missed out on some electric franchise history.

Per @StatsCentre on social media:

Racking up a double digit strikeout total in each of his last 3 starts, ace Chris Sale has put up a total of 32 overall in that span. If he can record at least 8 in tonight's affair vs the Nationals, he will join this list of stretches by a pitcher with the ATL franchise

Sale picked up 36 strikeouts in that four-start period, when 40 would have put him on the list with the likes of Charlie Morton, John Smoltz and Spencer Strider.

The Braves and Nationals will play again on Saturday night with first pitch coming at 7:20 p.m. ET. Jake Irvin will get the ball for Washington while Morton will pitch for the Braves. He's 7-7 with a 4.29 ERA this year.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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