The Atlanta Braves traveled up north to play the Brewers in a pitching matchup to drool over with Chris Sale and Jacob Misiorowski both on the mound.
The game started off with a sign that Misiorowski might not be invincible with Ronald Acuña able to draw a walk to lead off the game. That hope of scoring early was extinguished quickly by back-to-back strikeouts of Baldwin and Olson followed by Acuña being thrown out by his former teammate William Contreras to end the top of the first.
Sale got into
some trouble in the first. He was able to get Chourio out, who has a strong history of doing well against him as well as forcing a groundout to Turang. However, the two other players that have a career OPS north of .800 in their careers against Sale, Contreras and Vaughn were able to pull off back-to-back singles. Fortunately, Sale was able to get Bauers to ground out to end the inning.
In the second inning, as many could probably guess, there was not much offense for the Braves. Dubón was able to single off Misiorowski, but that was the only baserunner in the top of the second. Chris Sale dominated the second by sitting down every hitter, to include a strikeout of Cooper Pratt.
The Braves were able to get a runner to second base in the third. After a Riley strikeout, Yastrzemski singled and was moved over to second on an Acuña groundout, but that was ended with a groundout from Baldwin. The third inning is where the Brewers got the better of Chris Sale. He gave up back-to-back singles to Lara and Chourio. Sale was able to strike out Turang, but Contreras singled to score Lara and then Vaughn scored Chourio from third on a play that just missed being a double play from Dubón and Albies. Sale settled down and struck out Bauers to end the third.
In the fourth, Matt Olson struck out on a Brewers challenge. Harris hit the ball hard, but Lara made a fantastic play in CF, and Ozzie Albies also flied out. Chris Sale looked like Chris Sale again in the fourth. He sat down the side to include a strikeout of Ortiz, one of the players who has a history of doing well against him.
There was some hope for some Braves in the fifth inning. After a groundout, Smith came through with a single. Riley struck out, but then Yastrzemski reached base for a second time with a walk to put two runners on for Acuña. Unfortunately, Acuña was not able to come in clutch and grounded out to SS. Sale struggled a bit in the fifth by his standards. Lara singled to lead off the bottom of the fifth but he somehow has not watched Acuña highlights because he tried to stretch it out to a double and got thrown out. Sale struck out Chourio, but then Turang and Contreras singled each to put two on with two outs. Vaughn grounded out though, so no more damage was done.
There was sign of life in the sixth. Baldwin struck out, and Matt Olson almost had a double, but there was a fantastic play in CF.
Harris was able to make solid contact with two outs that resulted in a double, but he was not able to be brought in. Sale stayed in to pitch the sixth and it paid off. He was able to retire the side to include a strikeout of Ortiz after a failed challenge.
Antonio Senzatela relieved Misiorowski in the seventh. Dubón led it off with a single, but got thrown out on a bang-bang play at second. Smith grounded out and Riley popped up. Brent Suter relieved Sale. Sale finished the day with 6.0 innings where he surrendered eight hits, but only gave up two earned runs on zero walks, and six strikeouts. Suter led it off with two straight strikeouts to include the Brewers failing a challenge. He walked Chourio, but then got Turang to groundout to the mound.
Senzatela stayed in to pitch eighth, and that worked out for the Braves. Yastrzemski walked and then when Acuña hit a grounder there was some luck. Yastrzemski was out at second but then on a bad throw Acuña moved to second. Baldwin continued his struggles with a strikeout, but then Olson singled to put runners on the corners. Harris then singled to score Acuña and put two runners on. Albies then walked to load the bases, but the rally was killed when Dubón hit a 99.3 MPH line out.
Dylan Dodd pitched the eighth. He was a bit shaky, but got the job done. Contreras singled and Mitchell walked, but then Dodd was able to strike out Bauers and get Gary Sánchez to ground into a double play.
Trevor Megill came in for the save opportunity. He got Smith to groundout and Riley to fly out, but Yastrzemski continued his hot game with his fourth time reaching base with a single. This brought Acuña up to be the final hope. This led to Lane Thomas coming in as a pinch-runner and stole second base. Acuña could not pull it through though and struck out to end the game.
This was a tough loss. The Braves’ pitching was able to keep it close, and the offense could not capitalize on bases loaded late in the game. The bright spot outside of the pitching was Yastrzemski reaching base four times. He had no business batting ninth when he has been the third best hitter in the month of August. Maybe things would have been different if he was hitting higher in the order.
Hopefully the Braves can catch a spark, because they are trending the wrong way. Next game is tomorrow at 2:10 EDT where Bryce Elder will be facing Logan Henderson and his sterling 2.70 ERA.
