San Francisco Giants starter Blake Snell took a shutout into the 7th inning in another strong outing. The Giants couldn’t hold on in the top of the tenth as the Atlanta Braves squeezed by 1-0 on Mon Aug 12, 2024 at Oracle Park in San Francisco (NBC California photo still)

Atlanta (62-56). 000 000 000. 1 1. 4. 1

San Francisco (61-60). 000 000 000 0. 0 3. 0. 10 innings

Time: 2:35

Attendance: 30,134

Monday, August 12, 2024

By Lewis Rubman

SAN FRANCISCO–In Monday night’s opener of the four game series between two recent powerhouses now battling for the final playoff spot in the National League, the stumbling but recovering San Francisco Giants fell to the bumbling Atlanta Braves, who had been smarting from being swept in four games at Coors Field. The final score was 1-0.

The Giants came to bat eight times with runners in scoring position. The only hit they  got in that situation was Mark Canha’s single in the first. They stranded six runners overall. The Braves went two for five with runners in scoring position and left a total of six on base.

Blake Snell, who finally has recovered the form he showed for San Diego in last year’s Cy Young award winning season and had been 2-0, including a no hitter, 1.15 with 49 Ks and a WHIP of 0.59 in his last six starts for the Giants threw 103 pitches Monday night before yielding his first base hit, a leadoff double to left by Marcell Ozuna, just over the glove of a leaping Matt Chapman.

The Braves’ second safety followed immediately after, a Matt Olson dribbler between third and the mound that didn’t advance Ozuna. After fanning Orlando Arcía, Snell left the game to thunderous applause, replaced by Randy Rodríguez.

He rose to the occasion, fanning Sean Murphy and Jarred Kelenic, pinch hitting for Ramón Laureano on nine pitches. The curse of the leadoff double strikes again! Snell’s totals for his 6-2/3 innings were no runs on two hits and three walks. He struck out 11 and ended up with a pith count of 114, 70 of them classified as strikes. He lowered his ERA to 3.91 but went home with a no decision.

The submariner Tyler Rogers torpedoed Atlanta 1,2,3 in the eighth before yielding to Ryan Walker to start the ninth. He gave the lie to his name by shutting the Braves down on nothing but a broken bat single by Ozuna. Taylor Rogers pitched the top of the tenth and allowed an almost preordained run on pinch hitter Travis d’Arnaeau’s sac fly to the right field warning track that brought in Arcía the zombie runner who had advanced to third on Sean Murphy’s single to left.

San Francisco had been patient with Snell, giving him time to recover from a late start to spring training and two stints on the IL before he hit his stride. The Braves, with Spencer Strider on the 60 day injured list, have been giving the remainder of their rotation an extra day’s rest between their scheduled starts.

Chris Sale, who took the mound at 13-3, 2.75 this evening was the most recent beneficiary of that sabbatical. He responded with a brilliant performance, yielding only three hits and striking out a dozen Giants in his seven inning stint.

No walks, no hit batters. He threw 107 pitches; only 30 were balls. Like Snell, lowered his ERA although he, too, had to settle for a no decision. Sale’s record now is 13-3, 2.61. Joe Jiménez held the Giants to a hit batter in the bottom of the eighth.

Luke Iglesias set the Giants down in order in the ninth to send the game into extra innings and returned to the mound to shut the Giants down in the tenth and earn the win, which left him at 2-1, 1.58.

The series continues Tuesday, at 6:45 with Atlanta’s Charlie Morton (6-7, 4.47) and San Francisco’s Kyle Harrison (6-5) toeing the rubber.