In a gripping pitching duel on Monday night, Blake Snell of the San Francisco Giants and Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves delivered standout performances that left both teams scoreless through nine innings.
The game, which took place at Oracle Park, eventually saw the Braves secure a 1-0 victory in the 10th inning, courtesy of a pinch-hit sacrifice fly by Travis d’Arnaud.
Sale showcased his dominance, pitching seven scoreless innings, allowing just three hits while striking out 12. Snell, who was nearly as effective, pitched 6.1 scoreless innings, conceding only two hits, striking out 11, and walking three.
Snell flirted with a no-hitter until the seventh inning, marking his second near no-hitter in three starts. Despite his impressive performance, Snell expressed disappointment that he couldn’t match Sale’s deeper outing.
“Felt good, got an extra day, so that played into it,” Snell said, according to Andrew Baggarly of The Athletic. “I just know I’ve got to try to last longer than him to give us a good opportunity to win. He went seven and that’s probably why they won the game. You’re always competing against the other starter to go as deep as you can.”
After the game, Snell acknowledged his admiration for Sale, an eight-time All-Star, even though he wasn’t rooting for him on the mound that night.
“Personally, today, I wasn’t rooting for him, but outside of that, I’ve been a big fan for a long time,” Snell remarked to MLB.com. “Great guy. What he’s had to battle to get where he’s at right now is pretty amazing.”
Sale, reflecting on the game, praised Snell’s performance, highlighting the resilience required after the Braves’ tough loss to the Rockies just the day before.
“Snell, that’s about as good as you’re going to see out there,” Sale said. “Just to be able to grind through that and overcome that, that was big time. That kind of shows what this group is about.”
Despite the Giants’ loss, their manager, Bob Melvin, appreciated the quality of the duel, stating:
“It came as advertised with those two guys. They were really dominant.”
