Those anticipating Chris Sale vs. Chase Dollander pitchers’ duel at Coors Field should consider a partial refund.
Sale was as good as advertised. Dollander was not.
In whipping the Rockies 9-1 on Saturday night in front of 38,569 on a perfect spring evening, the Braves played like the best team in baseball. On Derby Day, they launched three home runs.
The Rockies, losers of three straight, showed that they still have a long, long way to go.
Sale limited Colorado to one run on three hits over seven innings. The lefty struck out 11 — including seven of the last nine hitters he faced — and walked three, improving to 6-1 and slicing his ERA to 2.14.
“That was vintage Sale,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “He’s got that funky delivery and good extension. He has a really good fastball, still. And he had a good slider, and he used his changeup the third time through (the order).”
Sale is 2-1 with a 1.44 ERA in six career appearances against the Rockies.
The Braves (24-10) clinched the three-game series and set a record by becoming the first team in franchise history to open the season with 11 consecutive series without a defeat (10-0-1).
Colorado used an opener for Dollander again, but this time it backfired.
Atlanta scored two runs in the first inning off lefty Brennan Bernardino on a two-run homer by catcher Drake Baldwin, who finished a triple shy of hitting for the cycle. Bernardino had pitched 58 consecutive innings before allowing the home run, the second-longest active streak in the majors.
Dollander came on to get the final out of the first inning, but it was clear early on that the right-hander lacked the command that had been so precise this season.
“I didn’t get ahead, and I couldn’t put guys away when I needed to,” said Dollander, who never found his slider. “That’s not conducive to success.”
Dollander has been asked repeatedly if it’s a difficult adjustment for him to come in after an opener. Saturday night, he once again said it was not an issue.
“I’m just trying to get the innings and put up zeroes, just like I was when I was starting before,” he said. “If you fall into that trap, it’s not good for pitching.”
The right-hander entered the night with a 2.25 ERA, but departed with a 3.38. The Braves belted him around for six runs on eight hits over 5 1/3 innings, including a two-run homer by Austin Riley in the Braves’ two-run fifth.
Dollander’s fourth inning was particularly messy because he walked Riley to lead off the frame and then gave up three hits, the big blow an RBI double to right by Baldwin.
Schaeffer said that Dollander’s poor outing on Saturday had nothing to do with the club’s strategy to use an opener, even though Atlanta rapped three straight hits off Berardino to open the game, and Dollander came in facing a 2-0 deficit with a man on third base.
“I love ‘Bernie,’ ” Schaeffer said. “Bernie’s a big part of our team, and we trusted him through that part of the order. I like the left-on-left matchup, but Baldwin just got him, that’s all.”
Colorado scored its lone run in the third with a leadoff single by Kyle Karros and a two-run RBI double by Jordan Beck off Sale. The Braves tacked on a run in the ninth on Matt Olson’s second-deck blast to right off Tanner Gordon.
The Braves, 22-6 against the Rockies since the start of the 2022 season, will go for the sweep on Sunday afternoon.
Pitching probables
Sunday: Braves RHP Spencer Strider (2026 debut) at Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (1-2, 3.48 ERA), 1:10 p.m.
Monday: Mets TBA at Rockies RHP Tomoyuki Sugano (3-1, 2.84), 6:40 p.m.
Tuesday: Mets RHP Freddy Peralta (1-3, 3.52) at Rockies RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-3, 6.09), 6:40 p.m.
Wednesday: Mets RHP Christian Scott (0-0, 4.26) at Rockies LHP Jose Quintana (1-2, 4.07), 1:10 p.m.
