MINNEAPOLIS — Chris Sale earned his MLB-leading 15th win of the season with six crisp innings on the mound, Jorge Soler homered early and threw out a runner at the plate late, and the resurgent Atlanta Braves beat the struggling Minnesota Twins 5-1 on Wednesday night to complete a three-game sweep of their interleague series at Target Field.
The 35-year-old Sale (15-3) continued his comeback season by stretching his streak of allowing two earned runs or fewer to 14 straight starts. Sale had six strikeouts to match Dylan Cease of the San Diego Padres for Major League Baseball’s lead with 197 this year and set a single-season Braves franchise record for a left-hander.
Sale is in his first season with Atlanta after being traded by the Boston Red Sox.
“Being on a new team and having an opportunity to have a fresh start, it’s been fun,” said Sale, who this summer earned the eighth MLB All-Star selection of his career but first since 2018 after his last five seasons in Boston were largely spoiled by injuries. “It’s a very loose clubhouse. It’s an easy place to kind of come in and mesh, so just trying to do my job.”
Matt Olson hit an RBI double, and Luke Williams added a two-run double in a four-run seventh inning that broke the game open against Minnesota’s beleaguered bullpen and propelled the Braves (73-60) to their ninth win in their past 11 games.