Atlanta ace Chris Sale will put his perfect record against San Diego on the line Thursday afternoon when the Braves host the Padres in the finale of their four-game series.
Atlanta defeated the Padres 7-6 on Wednesday to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Sale has made six career starts against San Diego and has never lost to the Padres, going 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA. The left-hander did not face the Padres when the teams met last month in San Diego.
Sale (10-6, 2.06 ERA) will be opposed by San Diego right-hander Griffin Canning (1-8, 6.67).
Sale produced one of his best efforts of the season in his last outing on Friday against Texas. He pitched seven scoreless innings and allowed only two hits, striking out six. He has thrown 10 consecutive scoreless innings.
Sale became the 27th major leaguer to reach 2,700 strikeouts on Friday. He needs 71 more to catch Frank Tanana and is only 101 behind Cy Young. The only active pitchers with more strikeouts are Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.
“It seems like he passes a new record every time he goes out and starts, so it’s pretty special,” Atlanta catcher Drake Baldwin said. “He can do a lot of things and execute them at a high level, and he has really good stuff behind that as well.”
Canning has lost his last three decisions, posting a 5.11 ERA. In his last start on Sunday at Kansas City, he was lifted after 3 2/3 innings after allowing four runs on five hits and two walks, striking out four.
Canning appeared against the Braves on June 23, the second arm used in a seven-man bullpen game, and allowed four runs in two-thirds of an inning. In three career appearances against Atlanta, two starts, he is 0-1 with a 12.91 ERA.
The Padres have watched their big hitters get hot since the All-Star Game.
Even though Ty France had his season-high nine-game winning streak broken on Wednesday, he is batting .346 (9-for-26) with four homers and eight RBIs since the break. Fernando Tatis Jr. is hitting .435 (10-for-23) with three homers and 11 RBIs since the break. Jackson Merrill has four homers and Manny Machado has three homers on the road trip.
“You know, going forward, we still believe in them as much as we’ve ever believed in them,” San Diego manager Craig Stammen said. “And you know, whether that goes the way we want it to go the rest of the season or not, we still believe in them, and we’re going to ride them and pat them on the back and encourage them and hopefully get the best out of them as we go forward.”
Atlanta rookie Jim Jarvis continues to play his way into the role of starting shortstop. He was 2-for-4 on Wednesday and had the go-ahead RBI with an eighth-inning double. Jarvis is 4-for-10 with a double, a triple and three RBIs in the series.
Jarvis has provided an alternative for Ha-Seong Kim, the $20 million offseason free agent who has disappointed and is currently on rehab assignment with middle finger inflammation. The ascendence of Jarvis has allowed the Braves to play Mauricio Dubon exclusively in the outfield.
–Field Level Media
