ATLANTA — Even as the Atlanta Braves’ struggles at the plate have led to trouble putting together wins over the past few weeks, there was a bright spot on the mound every time Chris Sale toed the rubber.
That successful run took a big hit Saturday, too, even as Atlanta’s bats showed more life than they have lately.
Miguel Andujar went 4-for-5 with a home run, four RBIs and three runs scored as the Oakland Athletics snapped Sale’s seven-start winning streak with an 11-9 victory over the Braves.
Brent Rooker also homered and drove in four runs for Oakland (24-36), which snapped a three-game losing streak and bounced back from a 4-2 setback in Friday’s opener of the three-game interleague series at Truist Park. Rooker’s two-run double in the sixth inning gave the A’s a 10-9 lead. Max Schuemann, batting ninth in the lineup for Oakland, was 4-for-4 and scored three runs.
“From an offensive standpoint, that was one of our best games of the year,” A’s manager Mark Kotsay said. “We obviously faced a really elite pitcher who is having a really good year. To put the at-bats together we did showed we had a really good game plan and we stuck to it.”