Chris Sale was boring and perfectly fine, and Drake Baldwin drove in four runs. (And he would’ve had another, if Denzel Clarke hadn’t robbed him of a homer!) Most of the time, that’ll get it done every time.

Plenty to be frustrated with, if you want: Sale sat around 91 with his 4-seamer for much of the game, and while the Braves got seven hits, five of them were by Drake Baldwin, Dominic Smith, and Mauricio Dubon, who have been the team’s hottest hitters; Austin Riley, Matt Olson, Ozzie Albies, Michael Harris, and Ronald Acuña remain on the schneid. For much of his abbreviated outing, Luis Severino could scarcely find the strike zone with a map, but the Braves managed to strike out seven times against him, doing him quite a few favors.

Still: the Braves take the rubber match and improve to 4-2 on the season. Apart from Jose Suarez’s start, the starting pitching has been little short of superb, and the bullpen has been nails. The team is scoring four runs a game and allowing two runs a game, and while I could wish the first number were higher, I can’t quibble with the second.

On the position player side, apart from Baldwin, many of the best contributions have come from Dubon, Smith, and Mike Yastrzemski, all of whom were signed as role players. They have inarguably strengthened our bench, but the team needs the stars to step up.

A lot of new coaches in the clubhouse this year. The first few games, I was really happy with the way the hitters were working counts and taking walks. But in the last couple of games against these A’s, I’ve seen them display a much less patient approach at the plate. I’m very glad to see them take care of business against a second-division team, but it’s a long summer, and I don’t like seeing them pressing in the first week.

Clean it up, boys!