ATLANTA (AP) — Chris Sale shut down the Phillies for the second time in nine days and won his 150th career game as the Atlanta Braves built an early lead and beat Philadelphia 6-2 on Sunday.
Sale (5-1) threw six shutout innings, allowing just one hit and striking out a season-high nine. In his previous start on against the slumping Phillies on April 18, Sale gave up one run in seven innings.
The Phillies, who snapped a 10-game losing streak Saturday, dropped to 0-10 against left-handed non-opener starters and fell to 9-19 overall.
Matt Olson hit a three-run home run in the first inning and Eli White added a two-run homer in the second for the Braves, who won for the 10th time in 12 games. Olson’s homer was his eighth of the season and fourth in his career off Phillies starer Aaron Nola (1-3).
Ronald Acuña Jr. was 2 for 3 with two runs scored and a steal. Drake Baldwin was 2 for 3 with an RBI and a run scored, and Ozzie Albies extended his hitting streak to nine games with a single in the seventh inning.
Nola gave up a season-high six runs on seven hits and has now allowed 11 earned runs in his last two starts. Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run homer run in the eighth inning as the Phillies avoided the shutout.
Sale’s only difficulty came in the third inning, when a hit by pitch, a single and a walk loaded the bases for Phillies slugger Bryce Harper. After falling behind 3–0, Sale struck out Harper to end the threat.
The Braves are 8-0-1 in nine series this season and are the only team not to lose a series.
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