Merrill Kelly allowed only one hit over seven scoreless innings and the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks held on to defeat the Atlanta Braves 2-1 on Wednesday for their third straight win.
Kelly (6-2) allowed one walk and struck out eight. He did not allow a base runner until Marcell Ozuna walked to lead off the fifth inning. Atlanta’s first hit came with two out in the sixth on a line drive single by Ronald Acuna Jr.
Arizona has won the first two games of the three-game set and takes a 3-2 edge in the season series. The Braves have lost three in a row.
Atlanta starter Chris Sale (3-4) worked six innings and allowed one run on three hits, four walks and 10 strikeouts — giving him 2,510 for his career and passing Hall of Famer Christy Mathewson for 39th on the all-time strikeout list. It was Sale’s first career loss to the Diamondbacks.
Arizona scored in the third inning. Geraldo Perdomo worked a leadoff walk and scored on a two-out single by Lourdes Gurriel Jr., which extended his hitting streak to 10 games. The Diamondbacks added another run in the ninth off Raisel Iglesias. Tim Tawa doubled and scored on Ketel Marte’s RBI single.
The Braves came up empty on a threat in the eighth. The first two batters reached against reliever Ryan Thompson, but he struck out Drake Baldwin before being lifted for closer Justin Martinez. He fanned Michael Harris II on three pitches, intentionally walked Ronald Acuna Jr., and struck out Austin Riley to end the inning.
Martinez allowed a run in the ninth, walking Baldwin with the bases loaded, but ended the game by striking out Harris to earn his fifth save. Four of Martinez’ five outs were strikeouts.
Atlanta reliever Daysbel Hernandez had to leave the game in the eighth with a blister on his right hand.
The start of the game was delayed by an hour and six minutes because of rain.
–Field Level Media
