Tonight, were you one of the fans who watched the first five innings of the game after the rain delay, knew what type of game this was going to be and decided just to check the box score?
Well, like the many empty seats at Nationals Park, that was pretty much a representation of the atmosphere throughout the game.
Nine scoreless innings and finally a run recorded in the tenth.
We’ll get to that.
Let’s discuss Chris Sale’s performance as he did a phenomenal job pitching eight innings, as both he and MacKenzie Gore left each other’s offense scoreless.
It almost looked as if Sale would pitch a complete game until he was relieved by Tyler Kinley in the ninth after reaching a total of 106 pitches.
In extra innings is where the game started and ended as Drake Baldwin made his way in the lineup and gained an RBI double to bring Michael Harris II in to get the Braves on the board for the first run of the game in the top of the 10th.
Maybe that was what this game was missing all along to spike up the offense…Baldwin’s bat to kick it off.
That ghost runner in extras was also pretty helpful to get the game going.
Matt Olson continued his impressive stint against the Nationals, following Baldwin’s lead in the same inning shortly after, hitting a triple to bring Baldwin and Jurickson Profar in for a four-run lead (4-0).
Finally, Ozzie Albies came in with a sac-fly to bring Olson in for a fifth and final run soon after a pitching change for the Nationals to cap off their rally before holding the Nationals still scoreless in the bottom of the inning to clinch the win (5-0).
The Braves now look to finish off with a sweep in tomorrow’s finale at Nationals Park. This will also complete their final road trip of the season as we look to Hurston Waldrep to take the mound.
