Chris Sale shines again as Braves take series from Padres
As the sun so follows the moon, Chris Sale was dominant yet again Thursday afternoon at Truist Park in a series-clinching, 6-5 win for the Braves against the Padres.
Sale (11-6) struck out 11 hitters to match a season high. It was the third time this season — and 94th time in his career — he has recorded double-digit strikeouts.
The left-handed ace of the Braves’ beleaguered starting rotation induced 23 whiffs, threw 18 called strikes, totaled 19 first-pitch strikes against 25 batters and finished his outing having thrown 71 strikes out of 98 pitches.
All three runs Sale allowed came in the second inning, a footnote on his fine day.
Left-hander Dylan Dodd followed Sale and worked a perfect seventh inning. Right-hander Tyler Kinley served up a two-run homer to Ty France in the eighth before giving way to Danny Young, who got the final out of the inning.
Closer Raisel Iglesias earned his 21st save with a scoreless ninth to preserve the Braves’ 22nd series win of the season (matching their 2025 total) and make them 51-1 when leading after eight innings.
Offensively, the Braves (60-42) hit four home runs and are 32-7 this season in multihomer games. They also became the third MLB team to reach the 60-win mark.
Thursday’s victory was the Braves’ 30th of the comeback variety after they were in an early 3-0 hole.
Sale got himself in a pickle in the second when Gavin Sheets rolled a single up the middle, and Freddy Fermin reached when his fly ball to left was misjudged by Mauricio Dubón and fell in safely for a hit.
Sale plunked Jake Cronenworth to load the bases, then walked Fernando Tatis Jr. to give the Padres (50-53) a 1-0 lead. Luis Rengifo added insult to injury with a two-run single to right center, making it 3-0.
In 18 previous starts this season, Sale only allowed at least three earned runs three times.
The Padres used reliever Kyle Hart to begin Thursday’s game before turning to starter Griffin Canning. Michael Harris II gave him a rude greeting by crushing Canning’s second pitch into the Chop House seats above the right field wall.
It was Harris’ 19th home — one shy of his career high and his fifth of July.
Ozzie Albies led off the bottom of the fourth with his 16th home run, a 398-foot shot to right that cut the score to 3-2. Later in the inning, with two on and two out, Dominic Smith hit his first homer since June 6, a 392-foot shot to right that gave the Braves their first lead at 5-3.
Drake Baldwin provided some insurance in the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run to right, the 19th of the season for the Braves catcher. Baldwin, during his 2025 National League Rookie of the Year season, also hit 19 homers.
Baldwin’s blast, in the end, turned out to be the game-winner.