Braves Today

Sale Outduels Snell, Braves Squeeze Out Win in Extras

The Atlanta Braves got one of their most-important wins of the season as Chris Sale builds on his Cy Young case.

Harrison Smajovits

Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale was masterful against the San Francisco Giants on Monday night.
Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale was masterful against the San Francisco Giants on Monday night. / Sergio Estrada-USA TODAY Sports
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The Atlanta Braves keep the San Francisco Giants at bay to start their series with a 1-0 win in 10 innings.

The tight game saw Braves starter Chris Sale, who is contending for this season’s National League Cy Young, outduel the reigning Cy Young Winner, Blake Snell to keep the Braves in the game to win it. 

After a shaky start to the first inning, Sale went onto pitch seven shutout innings while giving up three hits, no walks and striking out 12. 

His 12 strikeouts were a season high. Sale also sat down 16-straight batters between the first out in the second inning and two outs in the seventh. 

Mowing through that streak of hitters required more than clean pitching. Along with Austin Riley redeeming an error earlier with a diving play, Sale snagged a liner with two outs in the fifth to end the innings.

Sale continues to build his case to win his first career Cy Young Award as he has had a renaissance season. His 2.61 ERA leads the National League and his 0.97 WHIP is second only to Tyler Glasnow’s 0.95. His .205 opponents average is fifth. 

His 22 starts and 134 2/3 innings pitched so far are already his most since 2019 - comeback player of the year? There’s a case there too. 

Meanwhile, Snell pitched well in his own right. He pitched 6 1/3 giving up two hits and three walks while striking out 11. 

In what was a breath of fresh air in modern baseball (insert joke about the band of the same name here) is both starters threw over 100 pitches respectively in their efforts. Sale threw 107 and Snell threw 114 - the same number he needed for a no-hitter 10 days earlier. 

The Braves scored the lone run on the night in the top of the 10th when catcher Travis d’Arnaud drove in shortstop Orlando Arcia with sac-fly.

The bullpen redeemed itself with three scoreless innings. Joe Jimenez, who was part of the meltdown on Sunday against Colorado, got the job done in the eighth while Raisel Iglesias struck out four batters over two hitless frames to end the ballgame. 

Inhale. Exhale. Repeat as many times as required to bring down your heart rate and blood pressure until the next game. 

We got a pitcher’s duel, so nice defensive plays and the Braves start a series on the right foot. 

Along with pushing the Giants back a game, the Mets lost their third straight, giving the Braves a one-game lead for the third wild card spot. 

The Braves continue their series with the Giants on Tuesday night. Charlie Morton looks to bounce back when he takes the mound against Giants’ lefty Kyle Harrison. First pitch is set for 9:45 p.m. on the east coast.

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Harrison Smajovits

HARRISON SMAJOVITS