Well folks, when they put Chris Sale's name on the lineup card across the way, you know you're not getting a laugher. This was a pitchers' duel the way they used to write it up in the paper — two guys daring each other to blink first, and neither one obliging for six innings.
Miz got the only cushion he'd need in the third. Rafael Lara and Jackson Chourio led off with back-to-back singles, Willson Contreras poked one up the middle to score Lara, and Andruw Vaughn beat out a fielder's choice that brought Chourio home behind him. Two runs, two outs, and that was the whole scoring column for six innings — off Chris Sale, no less, which tells you everything about the kind of night this was.
Because here's the number that'll be in the record book long after the final score is forgotten: that's 20 consecutive starts with 6-plus strikeouts, a new Brewers franchise record. And in the sixth, Lara made sure the record stayed spotless, going full extension into the center-field wall to rob Matt Olson of what looked like extra bases the moment it left the bat. Miz walked off the mound with the crowd still buzzing about the catch, not the pitch that set it up.
Final line: 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 BB, 6 K, 0 ER, 96 pitches, 32 of them at 100-plus. The bullpen took it from there, and it got a little uncomfortable — Antonio Senzatela let Michael Harris II single home a run with two outs in the eighth, Miz's tab staying clean since he'd long since showered — but Trevor Megill slammed the door in the ninth for his 24th save, striking out Ronald Acuña Jr. with the tying run standing on second. Contreras, for the record, went 4-for-4. Final: Brewers 2, Braves 1.
Thirteen wins now, four losses, ERA down to 1.68. Still the best in baseball. Chris Sale pitched like Chris Sale. It just wasn't enough.