Atlanta Braves at Pittsburgh Pirates

· Major League Baseball

Atlanta Braves

30-20, 14-12 Away

Final
8 - 1

Pittsburgh Pirates

25-29, 12-15 Home

Acuña departs with torn ACL as Sale, Braves top Pirates 8-1

Acuña opened the game with a double to right-center field against Martín Pérez. With Marcell Ozuna at the plate, Acuña started toward third on a stolen base attempt and his left knee gave way. The reigning NL MVP remained down for several minutes while being treated, pointing at his left leg before walking off under his own power.

The Braves’ initial diagnosis was left knee soreness. But the team announced Sunday night that an MRI showed a complete ACL tear that will require season-ending surgery.

Jarred Kelenic went 3 for 4 in place of Acuña, a 26-year-old outfielder batting .250 with four home runs and 15 RBI in 49 games.

Sale (8-1) struck out eight while pitching seven innings of one-run ball. It was another impressive outing for the 35-year-old left-hander, who has regained the form that earned him seven straight All-Star selections from 2012-18 before a string of injuries.

“Just doing what I need to do,” Sale said. “We all have our part on the team. Just posting every fifth day and trying to keep runs off the board. ... Take every start, you want to win. Had a couple rough ones over the last couple days. You want to end on a good note heading back home.”

Matt Olson homered and drove in three runs as Atlanta salvaged the finale of the three-game series.

Pérez allowed one run and four hits in three innings before departing with a left groin injury. The 33-year-old left-hander was checked after Kelenic beat him to first for a one-out single in the third. He then allowed an RBI double from Ozzie Albies that tied it at 1.

Pittsburgh also lost catcher Joey Bart, who was removed after the first inning and replaced by Yasmani Grandal because of a left thumb injury.

“Very, very strange,” Pirates manager Derek Shelton said of the three injuries in the first three innings. “The Acuña thing, I actually didn't even see it happen. I watched the replay. ... That was a little concerning for a guy that's as talented (as he is) in our game, the way he went down. Then with Joey and Martín, yeah, I don't think I've ever seen that.”

Shelton said he expects to have more information on Pérez and Bart on Monday.

Grandal put Pittsburgh ahead with an RBI single in the second.

Travis d’Arnaud doubled off Carmen Mlodzinski (0-2) in the fourth and scored on Orlando Arcia’s sacrifice fly. Olson extended the lead to 4-1 with a two-run double in the fifth.

Leading off the eighth, Olson drove a fastball from Aroldis Chapman 420 feet into the Allegheny River beyond the Clemente Wall in right. Duvall homered 428 feet into the left-field bleachers off Chapman two batters later, giving the Braves a five-run cushion.

“Just kind of nice to see us break out and score a few runs,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “Been kind of tough. It's great to see Matt have that kind of day and Jarred swung the bat really well. That was really good.”

Braves: RHP Charlie Morton (3-1, 3.35 ERA) takes the mound Monday as Atlanta heads home to start a four-game series against Washington and LHP Mitchell Parker (3-2, 3.32 ERA).

Pirates: RHP Jared Jones (3-4, 3.05 ERA) will start Tuesday, the first of a two-game set in Detroit. LHP Tarik Skubal (6-1, 2.25 ERA) starts for the Tigers.

How can I watch Atlanta Braves vs. Pittsburgh Pirates?

TV Channel: Braves at Pirates 2022 MLB Baseball, is broadcasted on MLB.tv.
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Matchup Prediction

Pirates: 34.0%

Braves: 66.0%

*According to ESPN's Basketball Power Index

Scoring Summary

	9th Inning	Grandal flied out to center.
	9th Inning	Triolo walked, Joe to second.
	9th Inning	Olivares struck out swinging.
	9th Inning	N. Gonzales popped out to first.
	9th Inning	Joe singled to left.
	9th Inning	Lee relieved Jiménez

Statistics

ATL		PIT
1	Games Played	1
1	Team Games Played	1
0	Hit By Pitch	0
10	Ground Balls	8
7	Strikeouts	12
8	Runs Batted In	1
0	Sacrifice Hit	0
14	Hits	5
0	Stolen Bases	0
3	Walks	2
0	Catcher Interference	0
8	Runs	1
0	Ground Into Double Play	0
2	Sacrifice Flies	0
37	At Bats	32
2	Home Runs	0
0	Grand Slam Home Runs	0
12	Runners Left On Base	12
0	Triples	0
1	Game Winning RBIs	0
0	Intentional Walks	0
5	Doubles	1
22	Fly Balls	12
1	Caught Stealing	0
168	Pitches	128
0	Games Started	0
0	Pinch At Bats	1
0	Pinch Hits	0
0.0	Player Rating	0.0
1	Is Qualified	1
1	Is Qualified In Steals	0
25	Total Bases	6
42	Plate Appearances	34
324.0	Projected Home Runs	0.0
7	Extra Base Hits	1
9.4	Runs Created	0.7
.378	Batting Average	.156
.000	Pinch Hit Average	.000
.676	Slugging Percentage	.188
.351	Secondary Average	.094
.405	On Base Percentage	.206
1.080	OBP Pct + SLG Pct	.393
0.5	Ground To Fly Ball Ratio	0.7
9.7	Runs Created Per 27 Outs	0.7
62.0	Batter Rating	11.0
18.5	At Bats Per Home Run	0.0
0.00	Stolen Base Percentage	0.00
4.00	Pitches Per Plate Appearance	3.76
.297	Isolated Power	.031
0.43	Walk To Strikeout Ratio	0.17
.071	Walks Per Plate Appearance	.059
-.027	Secondary Average Minus Batting Average	-.063
16.0	Runs Produced	2.0
1.0	Runs Ratio	1.0
0.7	Patience Ratio	0.2
0.4	Balls In Play Average	0.3
107.5	MLB Rating	62.8
0.0	Offensive Wins Above Replacement	0.0
0.0	Wins Above Replacement	0.0