SAN FRANCISCO— Chris Sale and Blake Snell put on a dazzling pitching display in a matchup of aces Monday night before the Atlanta Braves edged the San Francisco Giants 1–0 on pinch-hitter Travis d'Arnaud’s sacrifice fly in the 10th inning.
“It was a grind from the start,” Sale said. “Snell is about as good as you’re going to see.”
Snell carried a no-hit bid through six innings for San Francisco, just 10 days after throwing his first career no-hitter at Cincinnati. The left-hander gave up Marcell Ozuna’s leadoff double in the seventh on his 103rd pitch.
Matt Olson followed with an infield single, but Snell struck out Orlando Arcia before getting pulled. The two-time Cy Young Award winner struck out 11 and walked three.
Sale fanned 12 without a walk in seven innings of three-hit ball. The eight-time All-Star threw 77 of 107 pitches for strikes and lowered his earned-run average to 2.61 in his first season with Atlanta. The Braves won for only the second time in nine games and moved a game ahead of the New York Mets for the final National League wild-card position.
It was the left-hander’s 94th career double-digit strikeout game. The combined 33 strikeouts marked the most by two starting pitchers in the history of Oracle Park, which opened in 2000.
Sean Murphy’s leadoff single against Taylor Rogers (1–4) in the 10th sent Arcia, the automatic runner, from second base to third. He scored on d'Arnaud’s sacrifice fly to right field.
Raisel Iglesias (2–1) struck out four in two perfect innings for the win.
“Sale’s effort tonight really got us going,” Iglesias said through a translator. “I just think it was a really good outing. It could be one of those things where it gives us a little bit of a push moving forward.”
San Francisco, which fell back in its pursuit of a wild-card berth, put runners at the corners with no outs in the first against Sale but couldn’t score.
Atlanta bounced back after blowing a six-run lead late in Sunday’s 9–8 loss at last-place Colorado.
“It’s as good a guy to have on the mound after a game like yesterday. That’s for sure,” Braves Manager Brian Snitker said of Sale. “He’s given us a chance to win every time he’s been out there.”
Snell exited to a standing ovation from the crowd of 30,184. He has a 0.99 ERA in seven starts since coming off the injured list, allowing only 14 hits while striking out 60 in 45 1/3 innings. But he’s winless against the Braves in his career.
