Atlanta will try to add to the New York Mets’ misery on Saturday night when the host Braves send ace Chris Sale to the mound in the second game of the teams’ four-game series.
The Braves won the opener 5-3 on Friday to hand New York its 11th loss in 13 games and drop the Mets a season-high 16 games behind the Braves in the National League East. Atlanta evened the season series at 2-2.
Sale (8-6, 2.10 ERA) will oppose New York’s Sean Manaea (1-3, 4.71) in a contest of veteran left-handers.
The Braves have given the 37-year-old Sale additional rest in an attempt to keep him fresh for the stretch run. He last pitched on Sunday and had nine days and seven days between his two previous starts. When pitching with six-plus days rest during his career, Sale is 27-16 with a 2.61 ERA in 64 starts.
“These longer layoffs, they’re not injury related, so I’m able to get a lot of throwing done in between these days,” Sale said. “So I’ve been able to get on the mound two, three, even four times in between starts. I think getting on the mound more has been able to dial in.”
In his most recent outing, which came against the San Francisco Giants on June 28, Sale worked six innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on eight hits and one walk. He struck out 10, his second double-digit total of the season, but was charged with the loss in the 3-2 San Francisco win.
In five career starts against the Mets, Sale is 2-0 with a 1.97 ERA. He did not face them when the teams met most recently, from June 12-14.
Manaea, 34, will make his fifth start since being moved into the rotation. In his four starts, he is 0-2 with a 4.05 ERA. In his most recent outing on Monday against Toronto, he took a 2-1 loss after pitching 5 2/3 innings and allowing two runs on three hits and two walks, striking out four.
“I feel like a pitcher,” Manaea said. “I can go in and out with sinkers, cutters. I am definitely not throwing as hard as I used to, so I’m trying to just get guys out however I can.”
Manaea faced the Braves on June 13 and was the losing pitcher in the 3-1 game. He worked six innings and allowed two runs on four hits with six strikeouts. In four career appearances (three starts) against the Braves, Manaea is 0-2 with a 3.38 ERA.
On Friday, the Atlanta offense showed more signs of emerging from a slump as the Braves hit four home runs — two by Matt Olson, who ended a 16-game homerless streak. The Braves have scored five runs in three straight games.
“You want to be multi-dimensional, but we love homers and we’re capable of doing that,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “It’s been a part of our identity here for a long time. We needed to win that game. so it’s good to see the power show up.”
New York’s Carson Benge had a single on Friday to extend his hitting streak to eight games and his on-base streak to 15. But reliever A.J. Minter allowed one of Olson’s home run to end his streak of consecutive scoreless appearances at 25 games, dating to last season.
The Mets might have scored a minor victory by forcing Atlanta closer Raisel Iglesias to throw 22 pitches in the ninth inning. That could limit his availability over the weekend.
–Field Level Media
