Sale Grinds, Chavez and Minter Provide Relief to Braves Relievers

Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale picked up his MLB leading 12th win with an assist from the bullpen.

Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale picked up his MLB leading 12th win against the Diamondbacks on Tuesday. / Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

Atlanta Braves pitching got it done, but not without a fight in the 6-2 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks. It’s a game that could’ve gone very differently, very fast. 

“Tonight was a grind. That first inning was a lot,” Sale said after the game. “They just found a way to stick to their game plan and foul pitches off.”

In that first inning, Sale found himself in a bases-loaded jam that took 29 pitches to escape with the game still scoreless. 

Sale credited catcher Sean Murphy with getting him through a tough inning and giving him the chance to regroup. 

“Murph really knowing what I needed to do to get out of that kinda led me through that. Once I got out of that inning, I was like, all right, let’s take a deep breath, re-focus and get back to it .”

Sale described his pitches tonight as “sporadic,” and he didn’t have the effectiveness he normally had. 

“It was spotty. Sometimes the fastball was there. Sometimes it wasn’t...it was very in and out with a lot of my stuff.”

Sale pushed into the sixth inning but was pulled after he got into trouble again, allowing two earned runs. He threw 100 pitches in just 5 1/3 innings. 

Reliever Jesse Chavez was able to come in and limit the damage to just the two runs given up. Chavez pitched 2 2/3 strong innings before handing the ball off to AJ Minter. He would just need three pitches to slam the door in the ninth. 

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Chavez spoke of the importance of being able to go in and give the rest of the bullpen a night off. 

“It’s huge when you can go out and eat innings like that,” Chavez said. “We’re kinda depleted down there...but going out there and just trying to keep the pitch count down and get as many quick outs as I can.” 

Think of it as relief for the relievers. 

Sale spoke of how fortunate it is to have clutch arms in the bullpen. 

“They’ve been nails,” he said. “You just look at tonight. Chavy coming in - very efficient, very quick through the heart of their order...and then Mint, a three-pitch ninth inning. It made me jealous after a 30-pitch inning.” 

The Braves look to win their series with the Diamondbacks and extend their winning streak when they return to action on Wednesday night. First pitch is set for 9:40 p.m. EST.