San Francisco – Blake Snell and Chris Sale delivered a stellar performance, that lasted nine innings, with both pitchers leaving fans on the edge of their seats waiting for a run to be scored. The Atlanta Braves managed to score the only run in extra innings, securing a 1-0 victory over the Giants.
On August 2nd, Snell, the reigning National League Cy Young winner, threw his first no-hitter at Oracle Park. In his last six starts, Snell is 2-0 with a 1.15 ERA, 49 strikeouts, and a 0.59 WHIP. Tonight, he pitched six innings, allowed two hits, and three walks, while striking out 11 finishing with a 3.91 ERA.
“I felt stronger the last couple of years,” said Snell. “I feel good, but injuries early in the season, I couldn’t get stronger. I do feel like I’m getting stronger with every outing.”
San Francisco had opportunities in the first and eighth innings. In the first, Tyler Fitzgerald reached first base after a fielding error by Ramon Laureano in center field. Mark Canha followed with a single, putting two runners on with no outs. However, Sale responded by striking out the next two batters and forced Jerar Encarnacion to ground out, stranding runners at first and third.
In the eighth inning, Sale struck out his first two batters but allowed Mike Yastrzemski a single. Yastrzemski then stole second base, but Marco Luciano popped out to end the inning.
“You just try and scratch a run out,” SF manager Bob Melvin said. “It didn’t happen early, and we couldn’t push one across late. It’s not like some of the other games where we go 0-for-10 or whatever in some situations. Today was a little different because of the pitching.
Sale pitched seven innings, allowing three hits, striking out 12, and finishing with a 2.62 ERA. In his last 10 starts, Sale has not allowed two or more earned runs, dating back to June 7th, and posted a 2.45 ERA with 83 strikeouts during this stretch.
After nine scoreless innings, the Braves made key adjustments in extra innings to take control. Orlando Arcia started the tenth inning at second base. Sean Murphy singled and was replaced by pinch-runner Eli White. Pinch-hitter Travis d’Arnaud (replacing Jarred Kelenic) hit a sacrifice fly, scoring in Arcia and giving the Braves a 1-0 lead.
San Francisco couldn’t respond despite having a runner on base. Raisel Iglesias struck out the first two batters and then forced Patrick Bailey to line out to end the game. With this win, Atlanta moved 2.5 games ahead of the Giants in the NL Wild Card standings. Every game moving forward is crucial for San Francisco, which must find a way to secure victories.
“We want to make it to the playoffs. I believe we’re going to, said Snell. “We’ve got a good pitching staff, we’ve got a good team, we’ve got a good bullpen. There’s no reason I don’t think we can do it.
We have all the teams in front of us that we need to play to get in, so we need to keep winning and I believe we’re going to do it. I believe they’re showing up and excited like we are.”
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