Chris Sale struck out nine over six scoreless innings and Matt Olson drove in the only run as Atlanta beat the Mets 1-0 in the nightcap at Citi Field.
Wednesday in Queens asked a lot of the Braves, who played two games in one day after Tuesday's postponement and needed the second one to avoid leaving New York empty-handed.
They dropped the opener 3-2, with AJ Smith-Shawver allowing two runs over 4.1 innings and Olson tying that game with a two-run homer in the sixth before Carson Benge doubled home the go-ahead run in the seventh.
The nightcap belonged to Chris Sale, who allowed two hits, walked nobody and struck out nine over six innings, and the offense gave him just enough when Jim Jarvis doubled to open the sixth and later scored on Olson's sharp ground-ball single to center.
One Run Was Enough
Sale knew early that the game would stay tight, and he pitched like it.
"We were able to scratch and claw for one there, and whether we scored 10 runs or one run, I never want to give up runs," Sale told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. "With our bullpen, I knew it was going to be on me because those guys don't like giving up runs even more so than me."
The bullpen backed up his faith, as Didier Fuentes, Dylan Lee and Raisel Iglesias covered the last three innings without allowing a hit and Iglesias closed the ninth for his 22nd save.
That late-inning group has carried tight games all season, and Wednesday showed why the formula still works.
What the Split Says About This Team
Sale is now 12-6 with a 2.08 ERA at age 37, and it was the fifth time this season he has struck out at least nine hitters in a game.
That is ace production at a time when Atlanta needs every bit of it, because the offense keeps living in close games.
Manager Walt Weiss pointed out after the game that his team has played a long run of tight ones since the break and has mostly come out fine, a view the numbers support with the Braves sitting at 17-16 in one-run games.
The club has lived through nights when the plan fell apart this year, so a 1-0 win built on pitching feels like the identity they may have to ride.
Nothing about that formula is flashy, and it does not need to be, because teams that know exactly how they win tend to hold up when the games tighten in September.
The Braves are starting to look like one of those teams, and Wednesday made it hard to argue otherwise.
Home for a Big Week
At 63-45, the Braves head back to Truist Park to open a series with Washington on Thursday night, and the trade deadline arrives Monday evening.
Olson keeps anchoring the middle of the order with 28 home runs on the season, Michael Harris II has delivered moments like his dramatic win against Boston, and the rotation looks steadier with Sale rolling along.
A split in New York was not the dream result, but leaving town with a win in hand sets up the homestand about as well as the schedule allowed.
The rest of the week belongs to the front office, and it is much easier to shop for help when the rotation is pitching like this.
