Braves come away with 1-0 win in 10 innings in opener against Giants

SAN FRANCISCO – Ahead of the series opener between the Braves and Giants, baseball fans salivated: Chris Sale and Blake Snell, two aces, were set to face one another at Oracle Park.

The matchup lived up to the hype – neither starter surrendered a run. And the teams were scoreless through nine innings.

The Braves came away with a 1-0 win in 10 innings.

Five observations:

1. In the top of the 10th inning, Sean Murphy hit a leadoff single to move Orlando Arcia (who started the inning as the automatic runner on second base) to third. Travis d’Arnaud came off the bench and worked a terrific at-bat that ended with him lining a sacrifice fly to right field.

It scored the game’s first run.

Perhaps the biggest hero: Closer Raisel Iglesias, who pitched two scoreless innings. He sent the game to extras by keeping the Giants off the board in the ninth inning, then closed the game in the 10th for Atlanta.

Iglesias pitched two innings for the first time since July 8 in Phoenix, when he did something similar to this. But that time, he allowed an unearned run to score – that runner who starts on second for extra innings.

This time, he stranded that runner.

2. At around 11:20 p.m. ET, the Braves and their fans could breathe. Before that, the Braves were in moderate danger of falling victim to a rare baseball feat.

And then Marcell Ozuna led off the seventh inning with a double over the third baseman’s head for Atlanta’s first hit of the night versus Snell. Yes, the Braves had nine outs with which to play, but they weren’t safe until Ozuna’s ball landed in fair territory – after all, Snell threw a no-hitter two starts before this in Cincinnati, which is a hitter-friendly ballpark.

After Ozuna’s hit, Olson rolled a dribbler for an infield single. At that moment, it seemed San Francisco manager Bob Melvin might pull Snell, who was over 100 pitches after beginning the inning at 98.

But Melvin left Snell in the game to face Arcia, who worked a full count before striking out swinging. Snell departed the game after 114 pitches.

The Braves couldn’t score Ozuna from second base as the game remained scoreless. Luckily, Atlanta had Sale on the mound – and he dealt.

3. After the first two batters reached against him – one on an error – Sale retried 20 of the next 21 (!!) before giving up a two-out single in his seventh and final inning. He stranded that runner to keep the game scoreless.

Snell stole the attention because of his no-hit bid, but Sale dominated almost as much. He struck out a season-high 12 and didn’t walk any. He gave up only three hits. He even made a beautiful snag on 104 mph liner hit right back at him.

Had he even allowed two runs, the Braves might’ve had a steep climb to come back. But he dueled Snell until the end.

By the time he recorded the third out of the bottom of the seventh inning, he’d thrown a season-high 107 pitches. (He’d hurled 105 in two starts prior to this, and 103 in three others.)

On Monday, Sale tallied at least 12 strikeouts without issuing a walk in a start for the 13th time in his career – the first time since 2019. This is the latest statistic that tells you he’s back to his old self.

4. In the first inning, Ramón Laureano ran up to a fly ball in shallow center field – but overran it. It fell for a two-base error.

It seemed as fitting a time as any to note that the Braves plan to activate Michael Harris II on Wednesday. He’ll travel to San Francisco on Tuesday.

Not only will Harris give Atlanta’s batting order another regular, but he’ll immensely improve the defense in center field. Harris is among the game’s best defensive center fielders, and his instincts and glove will greatly benefit the Braves.

After the error, Sale gave up a single. Then he retired three straight Giants – two via the strikeout – as he began rolling.

5. When Jorge Soler stepped into the batter’s box to lead off this game, Giants fans … booed him.

Yes, Soler was booed in his first game since the trade. The boos were moderately heavy, but not resounding.

They were surprising considering, um, Soler didn’t have any control over that trade.