Today's Three Things: Atlanta's Offense Lets Down Chris Sale in Loss

The Atlanta offense just couldn't figure out how to get the timely hits when they had runners in scoring position

The Atlanta Braves dropped their series opener 3-1 to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Dodger Stadium on Friday night.

Here is Today’s Three Things from the contest.

The Turning Point

I’m going with the top of the 6th here.

Down 2-0, Atlanta opened the inning in very promising fashion. Michael Harris II ripped a center-cut fastball for a 109 mph base hit before Mauricio Dubón went down to get a perfectly placed 0-2 slider for a single of his own.

But from there, Atlanta’s offense couldn’t get the ball to fall. Dominic Smith hit a ground ball to shortstop, resulting in a force out of Dubón at second. Austin Riley then misfired on a center-cut fastball to fly out to shallow right field before Mike Yastrzemski lost a nine-pitch battle, finally striking out to end the inning.

Truthfully, it could have been any number of innings here - the Braves got the leadoff hitter in four separate innings, advancing them to second multiple times, yet came away from all of those opportunities with just one run. More on that later.

Today’s Player of the Game

I’m giving it to Chris Sale.

For Sale, the veteran lefty was on another lefty tonight. He began the evening with a statement, punching out Shohei Ohtani on the most perfectly located 98 mph fastball you’ve ever seen, before then getting Will Smith looking as well.

Despite a few blemishes, like a solo shot to Freddie Freeman in the sixth inning, Sale finished with just two earned runs in his seven innings, striking out seven with no walks. He averaged 96.4 mph on his four-seamer, a full 1.2 mph faster than his season average, while picking up 17 total whiffs and a 36% CSW. Sheer dominance from the ace tonight, lowering his ERA to a crisp 2.20.

What You’ll Be Talking About

Atlanta’s disappointing offense.

Michael Harris II (who was back in centerfield tonight) went 4-4 with a run scored, but was also cut down from home when he tried to score from first on an Austin Riley double. Riley finished with two hits and the lone RBI, driving in Harris in the 2nd inning.

Outside of those two, it was mostly an abdication of duty from Atlanta’s lineup tonight. The top three in the order, Drake Baldwin, Ozzie Albies, and Matt Olson, combined to go 0-9 with two walks and four strikeouts. Outfielder Mike Yastrzemski’s tough start to the season continued, with the veteran going 0-4 with two strikeouts and twice leaving a runner in scoring position.

While Atlanta was able to get Emmet Sheehan out of the game early thanks to nearly 40 foul balls, actually getting timely hits was not a strength for Atlanta tonight. Riley’s 2nd inning RBI single was Atlanta’s only hit with a runner in scoring position in ten chances.

Atlanta’s offense has now scored nine runs in their last four games, with four of them coming on solo homers in Monday’s loss to Seattle.

Looking for more discussion about this game?

Here’s tonight’s Postcast, with me and Locked On Braves host Jake Mastroianni, as we went live to break down the contest.

What’s Next for the Braves?

It’s a battle of the rehabbing stars, with Spencer Strider making his second start of the season opposite newly activated Blake Snell at 9:10 PM.