Braves 6, Padres 5: Sale's 11 Ks and Four Homers Hold On

Four baseballs left the yard. Sale made the rest of it look simple.

July 23, 2026 – Atlanta – Truist Park got the loud Thursday on a five-game MLB card, and the Braves spent it launching baseballs while Chris Sale carved strikeouts.

Sale matched a season-high with 11 Ks over six. Dominic Smith, Michael Harris II, Ozzie Albies, and All-Star Drake Baldwin all went deep. And the Atlanta Braves edged the San Diego Padres 6-5 to take three of four, per the Associated Press.

France almost stole the ending. Iglesias did not let him.

Opener perfect, bulk reliever not

Kyle Hart opened with a perfect first. Then Griffin Canning (1-9) took over in the second—and Truist turned into a launch window.

Harris greeted him with a 420-foot solo shot to right. Albies added another solo. Smith’s three-run blast made the fourth inning a four-run half. Canning lasted 2 2/3, five runs (four earned), three homers, ERA up to 6.97. That is how a bulk-reliever assignment becomes the loss.

Sale (11-6) gave the Padres one early punch—three runs in the second on five hits and a walk through six—then spent the rest of the night stacking punchouts. Eleven strikeouts. 2.19 ERA. The kind of start Atlanta’s playoff math wants on the board every fifth day.

Baldwin’s 19th of the season in the seventh pushed it to 6-3. Insurance that almost wasn’t.

France in the eighth, Iglesias in the ninth

Tyler Kinley inherited a lead and watched Ty France cut it to one with a two-run shot in the eighth. Danny Young recorded the third out of the inning. Raisel Iglesias worked the ninth for save No. 21—two hits, two strikeouts, no runs.

Final line for Atlanta: four homers, nine hits, zero errors. San Diego: nine hits, one error, and a 50-53 record staring at the Aug. 3 deadline.

AthX Engine angle

AthX Engine graded Sale at 21 pitching FP—third on the Thursday board behind Gavin Williams’ 12-inning-loss masterpiece and Shane Bieber’s seven-inning win. Smith led this game’s bats at 8 hitting FP. Harris 7. Albies and Baldwin 6 each. Braves 10 team FP; Padres 3 in a one-run road loss that still produced offense.

AthX Engine scores the night. Dynamic pricing still has to price Sale’s next start and San Diego’s deadline mood.

What comes next

Atlanta keeps rolling at 60-42. San Diego keeps deciding what “buyer” even means at 50-53. On AthX, Sale nights like this are the easy hold; Canning lines like that are the reminder that bulk roles punish fast.

Thursday Top 10 · Marketplace

*Sources: MLB.com schedule, CBS Sports/AP recap, CBS Sports scoreboard, AthX Engine scoring. Information only; not financial advice.*