The Braves got a dominate start from staff ace and reigning Cy Young winner Chris Sale and the offense chipped in late with a 3-run 8th inning rally to send the Mariners to their 13th loss in 18 games.
The Mariners have one of the most powerful lineups in baseball, boasting 170 homers from the top 5 hitters in their order, and Chris Sale decided he didn’t much care tonight, dominating them all evening.
After a scoreless first inning with two strikeouts for Sale, it looked like the Braves were going
to put up a crooked number immediately, loading the bases with no one out after a double, walk and single to start the bottom of the first. Drake Baldwin stuck out but newcomer Ha-Seong Kim lifted a 350 ft fly ball to center for a sacrifice fly to get one run on the board, though the threat ended when Michael Harris struck out to end the inning.
Of course, the way Chris Sale looked, a one run lead probably felt like a lot more for Seattle. After the scoreless first, Sale set down the side in order in the second, and ran into his only real trouble of the night in the third. After a 1-out double from Leo Rivas, Sale hit Randy Arozarena with a 2-strike pitch to put 2 runners on for the MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh. But Raleigh popped out to end the threat.
Sale continued on with 2 more strikeouts in a scoreless 4th, struck out the side in a 1-2-3 5th inning, struck out 1 in a scoreless 6th, and got 2 outs in the 7th before being pulled for Dylan Lee. Sale finished with a final line of 6 2/3 innings pitched 9 strikeouts ,4 hits and 1 earned run.
The earned run came because after Sale allowed a single in the 7th, Dylan Lee came and immediately allowed two straight 2-out single to bring that run and tie the game 1-1.
Luckily for everyone, well everyone except the Mariners, the Braves offense wasn’t done for the evening. Jurickson Profar started the 8th with a leadoff double, followed by a go-ahead RBI single from Matt Olson. Ozzie Albies followed with an RBI triple, and Drake Baldwin capped the fun with an RBI single to give the Braves a 4-1 lead going to the 9th.
Raisel Iglesias finished things off with a 1-2-3 ninth and the Braves took game one 4-1. They’ll go for a series win Saturday night when Hurston Waldrep faces off against Bryce Miller at Truist Park at 7:15 pm ET.
