ATLANTA — Brian Snitker has managed the Atlanta Braves for more than eight years, a tenure that includes playoff appearances the past six seasons and the 2021 World Series championship.
On top of that, Snitker, who turns 69 next month, has been part of the Braves organization in various roles and different levels of professional baseball for close to a half-century, giving him ample perspective on the sport.
So when he sets a game apart, that’s saying something.
“That was probably one of the top two or three most draining games I’ve ever been a part of,” Snitker said Sunday evening. “It’s great to see how they just hung in there and kept forcing the issue.”
With a seventh consecutive postseason appearance anything but certain for the franchise, the Braves have no choice but to play that way.
Sean Murphy’s infield ground ball with the bases loaded scored a sliding Eli White in the bottom of the 11th inning, and Atlanta completed its rally for a gritty 4-3 win to take two of three from the American League’s Toronto Blue Jays in a weekend series at Truist Park.
The six-time reigning National League East champions now have 12 extra-inning victories in 2024, the most in Major League Baseball. The latest one helped the Braves improve to 78-65 and pull even with the New York Mets, a division rival, for the third and final wild-card spot in the NL playoff race with three weeks remaining in the regular season.
The top two teams in the NL wild-card standings are the West Division’s San Diego Padres (81-64) and Arizona Diamondbacks (80-64). The Philadelphia Phillies (85-58) are first in the NL East with a seven-game edge over both the Braves and Mets, whose nine-game winning streak ended with Sunday’s 3-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds.
A year after a historically powerful lineup pushed Atlanta to 100-plus wins, starting pitching has kept the Braves in contention for the playoffs. In the rubber match with Toronto, they got another brilliant outing from 35-year-old left-hander Chris Sale, who pitched six scoreless innings.
White had two crucial hits after entering the game as a defensive replacement at second base, which was just his fourth game at the position in his MLB career.
The Braves’ decisive rally started when he led off the 11th inning with a bunt single that advanced automatic runner Michael Harris II to third base. Adam Duvall then reached on an error by Blue Jays third baseman Addison Barger, whose throw sailed wide to first and scored Harris to tie the game.
Murphy followed with a bouncing ball up the middle off Zach Pop (1-4), and White was able to score, sliding in ahead of the throw from shortstop Ernie Clement.
“Just making sure I put the ball in play, and hopefully something good happens,” Murphy said. “Hit it to a good enough spot.”
George Springer had put the Blue Jays up 3-2 in the top of the 11th with his own bouncing single up the middle that scored Barger, who had advanced to third on a sacrifice bunt by Brian Serven. Springer had three hits in the game.
Sale, a leading contender for the NL Cy Young Award in a bounce-back season after being traded by the Boston Red Sox last winter, sliced through the Toronto lineup with little trouble, relying on his usual pitch mix that was heavy on four-seam fastballs and a sweeping slider. He threw a season-high 113 pitches, finishing his outing by retiring Leo Jiménez on a flyout to right after an 11-pitch battle.
The veteran southpaw struck out seven batters, walked one and hit two.
“His whole year has been phenomenal,” Snitker said of Sale an MLB All-Star this season for the eighth time but first since 2018.
Sale now has an 8-1 record in games following an Atlanta loss, but the Braves had to rally twice Sunday for the crucial win. Trailing 2-1 in the ninth, White reached first on a bouncing ball up the middle for a single. Marcell Ozuna followed with a single into gap in left-center field that moved White to third.
Matt Olson then lofted a long fly ball to left, with the ball caught for an out but the sacrifice easily scoring White to make it 2-all. It was Chad Green’s third straight blown save.
Braves reliever Raisel Iglesias (5-1) coaxed two straight weak ground balls with the bases loaded from Nathan Lukes and Barger to end a bases-loaded threat in the 10th. Atlanta pulled the infield in, and shortstop Orlando Arcia was able to get the force at home for the second out.
Iglesias worked two innings for the win, giving up a run in the 11th but limiting damage.
Pinch hitter Spencer Horwitz put the Blue Jays ahead 2-1 in the eighth with a two-run homer. The blast came on a low slider from Joe Jimenez that the left-handed hitter golfed into the right field seats for a 2-1 lead. It was the third homer in two games for Horwitz, who smacked two in the Blue Jays’ 9-5 win on Saturday.
Toronto starter Yariel Rodríguez gave up one run on two hits over his five innings, walking one batter and striking out six.
Jarred Kelenic put the Braves up 1-0 in the second on a two-out shot to right-center, which was his 15th home run of the season.
Off the field, there was good news on the injury front for the Braves, who said second baseman Whit Merrifield (fractured foot) could return for next weekend’s series against the Los Angeles Dodgers if he can tolerate the pain. The initial prognosis was the veteran would miss six to eight weeks, possibly ending his season, but a foot specialist said the injury wasn’t as serious as initially thought.
Merrifield fouled a ball off his left foot on Friday night, his first game back after missing the previous two in concussion protocol due to being hit in the head with a pitch during Tuesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies.
The Braves are already missing regular starting second baseman Ozzie Albies (left wrist fracture), who has been out for seven weeks. He is still having discomfort when swinging, and there is no timetable for his return.
The Braves will host the Reds on Monday for a makeup game, and the scheduled starters on the mound are Atlanta right-hander Charlie Morton (8-7, 4.24 ERA) and Cincinnati right-hander Nick Martinez (7-6, 3.67).