Last night, the Braves held the Rockies scoreless thanks to another stellar performance by Chris Sale, who went seven innings without allowing a run while striking out nine, walking none, and allowing only six hits.
Atlanta’s offense did just enough to give him another victory, and Sale is now poised to win his first Cy Young Award. The wily veteran leads the major leagues in ERA (2.46) and strikeouts (206) while also boasting baseball’s best record (16-3). He has also allowed two or fewer earned runs in 21 of his last 22 starts.
Chris Sale and the rest of the Braves pitching staff have showed fans the formula for success all season: grind out low-scoring games.
The offense has been poor all year, with some of it owing to injuries, so it is unlikely to improve overnight.
That isn’t to say things can’t get worse; if the Braves lose another piece of this team, the fat lady may sing. They cannot afford to lose another player to injury, and it appears that the team may have narrowly escaped another one last night.
Whit Merrifield took a blistering fastball off the dome late in the game, but all indications are that he will be fine going forward.
The Braves have a very limited path to postseason success, assuming they can even get there, but this is the type of pitching staff that can carry a championship club.
Merrifield’s injury would have been a devastating blow, especially because Ozzie Albies is still on the mend. The experienced utility player has been productive for the Braves. He was hitting below the Mendoza line before getting DFA’d by the Phillies, but since joining the Braves, he’s been roughly league average (98 wRC+).
The goal is that he will continue to play second base until Albies returns. At that point, he’ll be a versatile option for Brian Snitker, capable of playing third base or outfield.
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