\n Sports
\n \u00b7
\n 6 min read\n <\/p>\n
\n Chris Sale struggles in a short outing while Jose Soriano dazzles on the mound, handing Atlanta its third consecutive loss and raising questions about the Braves\u2019 early-season form. <\/p>\n
The Atlanta Braves\u2019 West Coast swing took a rough turn on Monday night, as they fell 6-2 to the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. The loss not only marked the Braves\u2019 third straight defeat, but also exposed some early-season cracks in a team that had been leading Major League Baseball in ERA and had started the year with a sparkling 6-2 record. With the NL East lead slipping away and the offense sputtering, the Braves were left searching for answers after a night dominated by Angels pitching and marred by their own miscues on the mound.<\/p>\n
Chris Sale, the veteran left-hander and current anchor of a depleted Atlanta rotation, took the mound just days after manager Walt Weiss described him as \u201csick as a dog.\u201d Sale was looking to build on his 2-0 start to the 2026 season, and early signs seemed promising. His fastball touched 97.5 mph in the first inning, and despite surrendering a leadoff home run to Zach Neto on a 95.3 mph heater, he responded by striking out the side\u2014fanning Jo Adell and Jeimer Candelario to close the frame. The \u201cwarrior\u201d mentality that Weiss praised before the game was on full display, at least initially.<\/p>\n
But the Angels, well aware of Sale\u2019s reputation as a strikeout artist, adjusted their approach at the plate. \u201cHe\u2019s a strikeout pitcher, and there\u2019s a lot of swing and miss on all of his stuff,\u201d Jo Adell explained. \u201cAnd so we were just trying to tunnel the zone and find pitches that we thought we could hit.\u201d Their patience paid off, particularly in a chaotic fourth inning that would ultimately decide the game\u2019s trajectory.<\/p>\n
Sale\u2019s command deserted him in that fourth frame. He hit Jorge Soler with a slider to start the inning, then allowed a single to Adell. Walks to Candelario and Logan O\u2019Hoppe\u2014on a combined nine pitches\u2014forced in the go-ahead run for the Angels, making it 2-1. Sale\u2019s frustration was clear as he paced behind the mound, struggling to regain control. He then hit Yo\u00e1n Moncada with another slider, forcing in a second run, and watched as Bryce Teodosio grounded an RBI infield single. By the time the dust settled, the Angels had plated three runs in the inning without recording a hard-hit ball or Sale managing to record an out. The Braves\u2019 lead was gone, and the pressure shifted to an already-taxed bullpen.<\/p>\n
Sale, who was charged with six earned runs on five hits over four-plus innings, finished with seven strikeouts and two walks, tossing 51 of his 77 pitches for strikes. He was relieved in the fifth after failing to record an out in the inning. After the game, Sale didn\u2019t mince words about his performance. \u201cJust bad command,\u201d he admitted. \u201cKind of one of those rare nights where it\u2019s going left, it\u2019s going right, and just kind of standing out there not really knowing how to fix the problem I was having. I didn\u2019t help myself at all.\u201d<\/p>\n
Despite his recent illness, Sale refused to use it as an excuse. \u201cThere\u2019s no leeway,\u201d he said, referring to his high self-expectations. \u201cI expect to do well every time I step foot [on the mound]. I know those are unrealistic expectations, but I can\u2019t find a single person in this room that would be okay with going out there and doing what I did tonight.\u201d Manager Walt Weiss echoed the sentiment, describing Sale\u2019s struggles as \u201ccertainly an outlier\u201d for a pitcher of his caliber. \u201cHe\u2019s like a lot of the great ones and he\u2019s harder on himself than anybody,\u201d Weiss said. \u201cI\u2019m sure he\u2019s going to beat himself up a little bit because that\u2019s just who he is. But I can\u2019t wait to see him pitch again the next time out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Angels, meanwhile, were buoyed by a stellar outing from Jose Soriano. The right-hander pitched eight innings, allowing just three hits and recording ten strikeouts against a Braves lineup that looked overmatched for much of the night. Soriano\u2019s outing was historic\u2014he became the fourth pitcher in Angels franchise history to deliver at least six innings, allow one or fewer runs, and notch at least four strikeouts in each of his first three starts of a season. Braves manager Walt Weiss had no choice but to tip his cap: \u201cIt\u2019s some of the best stuff you\u2019ll see in this league,\u201d Weiss told reporters. \u201cYou hate giving credit to opposing pitchers, but sometimes you have to. That was big-time stuff right there.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Braves\u2019 offense, which had powered them to an early-season lead in the NL East, was all but silenced. Key bats Austin Riley and Ronald Acuna Jr., both expected to anchor the lineup, failed to record a hit. Their struggles have been emblematic of a broader offensive malaise, as multiple historically reliable hitters have stumbled out of the gates in 2026. The only late spark came from Mauricio Dub\u00f3n, who launched a solo home run in the ninth inning to account for the Braves\u2019 final run\u2014a mere consolation on a night dominated by Angels pitching.<\/p>\n
Despite the bullpen being pressed into early action\u2014Joel Payamps, Aaron Bummer, and Osvaldo Bido combined for four innings of one-run relief\u2014the damage had already been done. The Braves\u2019 record dropped to 6-5, and with the loss, they relinquished their early grip on the NL East standings. While it\u2019s still early in the season and division standings mean little at this stage, the three-game skid has certainly raised eyebrows among fans and analysts alike.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s no shortage of adversity for this Braves squad. The rotation has been battered, with Spencer Strider sidelined by an oblique strain and three starters lost since the beginning of Spring Training. Sale\u2019s health and consistency are more critical than ever, and the bullpen has been stretched thin during a grueling 13-game stretch without an off-day. Yet, amidst the disappointment, there was a note of resilience from within the clubhouse. \u201cWe\u2019re going to be fine,\u201d Dub\u00f3n said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to go through stretches that we\u2019re not going to hit \u2026 [We\u2019ve] just got to stay within ourselves. It\u2019s baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking ahead, the Braves will try to regroup and even the series against the Angels on Tuesday evening. With the season still young, there\u2019s ample time to right the ship\u2014but the margin for error is shrinking, and the pressure is mounting. The Angels, meanwhile, will look to build on their momentum, buoyed by Soriano\u2019s electric start and a lineup that\u2019s finding ways to manufacture runs even against tough opposition.<\/p>\n
For now, the Braves are left to ponder what went wrong in Anaheim and how quickly they can bounce back. Sale will get another chance to prove his warrior mentality, and the lineup will look to rediscover its punch. The West Coast swing rolls on, and with it, the relentless grind of a Major League season.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sports \u00b7 6 min read Chris Sale struggles in a short outing while Jose Soriano dazzles on the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":670252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2390],"tags":[291,5,1165,446,3223,774,56,3224,3222,4],"class_list":{"0":"post-670251","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles-angels","8":"tag-angels","9":"tag-baseball","10":"tag-la","11":"tag-la-angels","12":"tag-laangels","13":"tag-los-angeles","14":"tag-los-angeles-angels","15":"tag-losangeles","16":"tag-losangelesangels","17":"tag-mlb"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116369208503243286","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=670251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/670251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/670252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=670251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=670251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=670251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}