Three ex-Braves helps Padres win in their return to Atlanta
Take a look around the league with Big League Stew’s daily wrap up. We’ll hit on all of the biggest moments from the day that you may have missed, while providing highlights, photos and interesting stats.
Here’s how the San Diego Padres’ 11-inning win against the Atlanta Braves came together Monday night:
Trailing 3-1 in the eighth inning, Justin Upton drove home a run on a ground out. Then Melvin Upton Jr., the former B.J. Upton, came around to score in the ninth inning and tie the game. Justin Upton then scored on a Matt Kemp double in the 11th inning to put the Padres up 4-3. After an insurance run made it 5-3, Craig Kimbrel came in and locked down the 11th inning for the save.
Two Uptons and a Kimbrel — they know those names well in Atlanta, but until a few months ago, they were used to them playing for the Braves. Instead, in their return to The A, the three Padres each helped ruin the night for their former team.
Afterward Kimbrel told U-T San Diego:
“It was definitely different, coming out of the other bullpen, no music,” said Kimbrel. He added, “But it turned out pretty cool.”
For what it’s worth: Cameron Maybin, who went to Atlanta in the Kimbrel trade, had an RBI single against his former team too.
MORE REVENGE: BOLSINGER STIFLES D-BACKS
Mike Bolsinger, who the Arizona Diamondbacks sold the Los Angeles Dodgers in November, pitched his new team past his old one. Easily, in fact.
Bolsinger, 27, has thrived since earning a spot in the Dodgers rotation and looked good again Monday night in his team’s 9-3 victory. Bolsinger pitched seven innings, allowing just three hits and two runs, while striking out eight. He’s now 4-1 this season with a 2.08 ERA.
CHRIS SALE K’S 14 AGAINST ASTROS
Sooooo, Chris Sale is pretty good at throwing baseballs. The Chicago White Sox ace was at his very best Monday night against the Houston Astros, pitching eight innings and striking out 14.
Yes, it was Carlos Correa’s MLB debut and that got a lot of attention, but anybody who watched this game also watched that attention shift to Sale, who accomplished some cool factoids in addition to Chicago’s 3-1 win:
JIMMY NELSON, BREWERS BLANK PIRATES
It wasn’t as tidy as the score suggests, but Jimmy Nelson and the Milwaukee Brewers shut out the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0. Nelson waited through one rain delay of about a half hour and stayed in the game. He pitched six innings of four-hit ball, striking out seven.
There was a second rain delay in Pittsburgh, which stopped play for an hour and 45 minutes. Nelson was out of the game at that point, so the second delay didn’t throw him off his game, but it did make for an unusual night of baseball at PNC Park.
Want to see more from Monday’s slate of games? Check out our scoreboard.
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Mike Oz is the editor of Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @MikeOz
