Pinch hitter Travis d’Arnaud scored the game’s only run with a sacrifice fly in the tenth inning, and the Atlanta Braves defeated the San Francisco Giants 1-0 on Monday.
The game began with a pitching battle between Atlanta’s Chris Sale and San Francisco’s Blake Snell.
d’Arnaud’s sacrifice fly to deep right occurred after Sean Murphy blooped a single to left off the fifth Giants starter, Taylor Rogers (1-4), advancing automatic runner Orlando Arcia to third.
Raisel Iglesias (2-1), who pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to force extra innings, retired the Giants in order with a runner on second in the bottom of the tenth to complete the shutout.
With their eighth win in 12 extra-inning games this season, the Braves moved two and a half games clear of the Giants in the fight for the last National League wild card slot. San Francisco lost its second consecutive game.
Sale and Snell set the tone for the low-scoring match with double-digit strikeout outings, but neither received a decision.
On the tenth anniversary of his sole prior appearance in San Francisco, in which he tossed eight shutout innings and collected 12 strikeouts, Sale was a mirror image of himself. In seven scoreless innings, he allowed only three hits and no walks while striking out 12.
The Giants’ greatest chance at Sale came in the first inning, when Atlanta center fielder Ramon Laureano misplayed Tyler Fitzgerald’s fly ball, resulting in a two-base error. Mark Canha followed with a single, putting runners in the corners.
Sale retired the next three batters, two via strikeout.
Meanwhile, ten days after no-hitting the Cincinnati Reds, Snell held the Braves hitless for six innings before Marcell Ozuna blasted a leadoff double down the left field line in the seventh.
After Matt Olson dribbled an infield single to Snell, Snell struck out Arcia before turning the ball over to Randy Rodriguez, who struck out both men he faced to keep the game scoreless.
Snell surrendered only two hits in his 6 1/3 shutout innings. He walked three and struck out eleven.
Ozuna’s double was the only extra-base hit in a game that saw only seven total hits, four of which came from the Braves. Ozuna, who also singled in the ninth, was the only player to record multiple hits.
