Braves defeat Guardians on the eve of the final round at the Masters

Baseball fans celebrate behind home plate, as a game tying runner heads home.

It felt like 1995 all over again—October ghosts drifting into Sunday Night Baseball, in April. Where every pitch thrown by Atlanta Braves starter Chris Sale (3-1, 3.27 ERA)  carried steam, and every at-bat from Atlanta hitters provided momentum: On a night Georgia sports fans witnessed Rory McIlroy defend his green jacket at Augusta, Atlanta’s hitters combined for 19 total hits, and the Braves defeated the Guardians 13-1.

Sale gave Cleveland hitters flashbacks of Atlanta’s powerful pitching rotation; that felt more like a dynasty than a staff, outdueling a Cleveland lineup that had one run on nine hits.  

Sale pitched six solid innings. He scattered eight hits, gave up one run, walked one, and struck out six as the Braves won two of three games from the Guardians, and Atlanta remained Major League Baseball’s only team without a series loss this season.

"It was big to get back on track. Just a fun game to be a part of. It felt like a Friday night out there tonight,” Sale said about his efforts.

Sale’s only troubles came in the second, when he hung a slider to Daniel Schneemann that bounced off the right field wall for a sliding double, then a single by David Fry that moved Ramirez to third, threatening with men on the corners. Sale pitched around traffic each inning, managed to strand seven runners, and only surrendered one run in six innings on a lead-off homer from Rhys Hoskins in the sixth. 

Braves manager Walt Weiss said he expected nothing less. "He comes to the rescue like he always does."

NBC couldn’t have scripted a better Sunday night game than these two historic teams: A national stage for the two organizations that squared off in the 1995 World Series. 

Atlanta beat Cleveland in Game 6, behind the arm of series MVP Tom Glavine.

Braves 6-9 hitters, exploded for 12 of the 19 hits and eight RBIs on City-Connect night.

Atlanta's hitting prowess proved to be more than enough run support for Sale. 

Atlanta drove the first runs of the game in the bottom of the second, with Mike Yastremski leading off with a walk, followed by a slingshot liner to right field off the bat of Ozzie Albeis. Guardians starter Tanner Bibee (0-2, 6.38 ERA) then generated a crucial double-play, as Sale did in the top half of the inning,  with a fastball to Dominic Smith, who grounded to the second baseman, Juan Brito. 

With two outs in the second, Atlanta connected on three consecutive hits from pitches left over the plate, Bibee allowed run-scoring extra base hits to Mauricio Dubon that scored Yastremski from third, followed by a nine-pitch at-bat that resulted in a single by Jorge Mateo, scoring Dubon, and on the second pitch of the next at-bat, Ronald Acuna Jr. laced an 88 mph cutter down the left field line to make it 3-0.

Dominic Smith in the fourth sent a Bibee 85 mph cutter, 371 feet over the right field wall. He recorded an exit velocity of 100.7 on an inside pitch that made the game 5-0. 

It was midway through the fourth when Bibee threw his last pitch of the night to Albeis. Another off-speed pitch, Albeis lined it through the infield; up the middle, scoring Matt Olson and moving Austin Riley to third. Kyle Farmer kept the Braves hot, with a double off Bibee’s replacement, Kolby Allard, which brought in Riley and Albeis.  

Atlanta finished with 19 hits, its third game with at least 15 this season and the most hits a major league team has had in a game this season. Nine different players earned a hit, led by a 4-for-4 night from Jorge Mateo and three-hit nights from Ozzie Albeis and Mauricio Dubon.

Back in 1995, this matchup defined a generation; it prepared sports fans for Tiger Woods at Augusta; it introduced fans to the Crimedog, and 

Now, decades later, a matchup between the two division-leading ball clubs, during Peacock’s early-season Sunday Night Baseball action, was held on the 60th Anniversary of the Braves' first game in Atlanta.

Up Next: 

Braves RHP Grant Holmes (1-1, 2.55 ERA) faces Marlins RHP Eury Perez (1-1, 5.06 ERA) in the opener of a three-game set in Atlanta on Monday.