ATLANTA – Miguel Andujar went 4 for 5 with a home run, four RBIs and three runs scored and the Oakland Athletics snapped Chris Sale’s seven-game winning streak with an 11-9 victory over the Atlanta Braves on Saturday.
Brent Rooker also scored and drove in four runs for Oakland. His two-run double in the sixth gave the A’s a 10-9 lead. No. 9 hitter Max Schuemann went 4-for-4 with three runs scored.
“From an offensive standpoint, this was one of our best games of the year,” Oakland coach Mark Kotsay said. “Obviously we’re facing an elite pitcher who’s having a really good year. To put together the hits, we showed that we had a very good game plan and we stuck to it.
Marcell Ozuna hit his 17th home run and finished with four RBIs for the struggling Braves, who had lost 11 of 17. Michael Harris II had three hits and Matt Olson launched a two-run homer.
Michael Kelly (3-2) picked up the win with a hitless inning. Dany Jiménez scored a scoreless ninth in his first save of the season.
Sale had his worst outing with Atlanta, giving up eight runs and nine hits in four innings. He struck out four and walked one. It was the most runs he has allowed in a game since 2019.
“Today was almost the exact opposite of what I did to be successful,” Sale said. “There was nothing specific.”
Sale, in his first season with the Braves, had a 1.17 ERA in his previous seven starts. The A’s, meanwhile, entered tied for 29th in the majors in runs and tied for 30th in batting average. Sale gave up as many runs in the first inning (two) as he did in five dominant starts in May. He surrendered four more in the second thanks in part to a three-run home run by Andujar, and two more in the fourth on a two-run home run by Rooker.
“We did a good job correcting the mistakes he made,” Rooker said. “Obviously, he doesn’t do a lot of them, which is why he’s so good and his stuff is electric. He throws from the zone and doesn’t leave much in the middle. That’s what makes him who he is. In the shots he made, we made mistakes in the middle, we managed to take advantage of them and make good shots.
Jimmy Herget (0-1) suffered the defeat to relieve Sale.
The Braves scored six runs in the fifth, turning an 8-3 deficit into a 9-8 lead. Olson’s two-run homer tied it and Adam Duvall put Atlanta ahead with an RBI single.
The A’s rallied in the sixth to regain the lead when Rooker hit Schuemann and Andujar with a double.
“To fall behind in the game after having the lead and then in the next inning to get it back definitely shows the fight, the fight and the will that this group has,” Kotsay said.
Atlanta threatened in the seventh, but Andujar made a catch in left field off Jarred Kelenic’s two-on, two-out strike.
Oakland starter Aaron Brooks, who was in position for his first win since 2019 with a five-run lead after four innings, lasted 4 1/3 innings and gave up seven hits and seven runs. He struck out one and walked one.
Kotsay was ejected in the sixth by umpire James Hoye for arguing balls and strikes.
NEXT
Oakland RHP Luis Medina makes his season debut on Sunday after recovering from a strained MCL. RHP Charlie Morton (3-2, 4.29 ERA) starts for the Braves in the finale of a three-game series.
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