PHOENIX — Chris Sale won for the first time this season, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 8-2 on Friday night to open a three-game weekend series.
Austin Riley and Eli White each drove in two runs for the Braves, who have won six of their past seven games. It was the Braves’ first victory against a National League West Division team this season after starting the season 0-7 on the road with four losses to the San Diego Padres and three to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Sale (1-2) threw 104 pitches over five innings, but the veteran left-hander pitched out of trouble and gave up just one run. The 2024 NL Cy Young Award winner allowed five hits with two walks and four strikeouts, lowering his season ERA from 6.17 to 5.40.
White drove in the first run for the Braves in their three-run second inning with a double off Zac Gallen (1-4). White started in right field after his three-run homer in the eighth inning of a 4-1 home win against the St. Louis Cardinals on Wednesday.
Eugenio Suárez’s throwing error with two on and two out in the sixth led to a pair of Atlanta runs and made the score 5-1.