Chris Sale strikes out 8 and leads the Braves to a 4-2 win over the Red Sox

BOSTON (AP) — Chris Sale struck out eight and pitched seven innings of one-run ball Friday night, leading the Atlanta Braves to a 4-2 win over the Boston Red Sox.

Sale (2-3), who won a World Series with Boston, earned his first win since April 25. The 36-year-old left-hander allowed five hits and an earned run with two walks.

The reigning National League Cy Young winner lowered his ERA from 3.97 to 3.62. Also a Gold Glove winner for the first time in his career last season, Sale went down to his knees on a comebacker by Boston’s Nick Sogard and got up and made the play for the first out of the fifth.

Sale spent six seasons with the Red Sox (2017-23) and recorded the final out that clinched Boston’s 2018 championship. He is 2-0 against the Red Sox since getting traded to Atlanta during the 2023-24 offseason.

Matt Olson and Sean Murphy hit consecutive homers in the second inning for Atlanta and the Braves added two runs in the ninth when Red Sox reliever Brennan Bernardino issued back-to-back walks with the bases loaded.

Raisel Iglesias allowed an RBI single to Boston’s Trevor Story in the ninth inning and earned his eighth save.

The Braves (23-22) became the fifth team to move above .500 after losing 7 or more consecutive games to open a season.

The solo homers were the only runs allowed by Red Sox starter Garrett Crochet (4-3) in seven innings. He struck out eight and walked none.

Jarren Duran had two hits and reached base safely three times – all against Sale – while Rob Refsnyder hit a solo homer in the seventh.

In a span of three pitches in the second inning, the game went from scoreless to Atlanta going up for good. Olson went the opposite way for eighth home run of the season. Murphy sent an 0-1 pitch from Crochet into the Green Monster seats for his eighth homer.

Crochet leads MLB with five starts of at least seven innings.

Atlanta RHP Grant Holmes (2-3, 4.14) faces Boston RHP Lucas Giolito in the middle game of the series Saturday.

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Atlanta Braves second baseman Ozzie Albies, right, tags out Boston Red Sox's Nick Sogard, left, during the seventh inning of a baseball game Friday, May 16, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Boston Red Sox's Rob Refsnyder rounds first base after hitting a home run during the seventh inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Atlanta Braves' Matt Olson (28) celebrates after his home run with teammate Sean Murphy, right, during the second inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale throws during the first inning of a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox, Friday, May 16, 2025, in Boston. (AP Photo/Mark Stockwell)

A Ukrainian drone strike killed one person and wounded three others in the Russian city of Voronezh, local officials said Sunday.

A young woman died overnight in a hospital intensive care unit after debris from a drone fell on a house during the attack on Saturday, regional Gov. Alexander Gusev said on Telegram.

Three other people were wounded and more than 10 apartment buildings, private houses and a high school were damaged, he said, adding that air defenses shot down 17 drones over Voronezh. The city is home to just over 1 million people and lies some 250 kilometers (155 miles) from the Ukrainian border.

The attack came the day after Russia bombarded Ukraine with hundreds of drones and dozens of missiles overnight into Friday, killing at least four people in the capital Kyiv, according to Ukrainian officials.

For only the second time in the nearly four-year war, Russia used a powerful new hypersonic missile that struck western Ukraine in a clear warning to Kyiv and NATO.

The intense barrage and the launch of the nuclear-capable Oreshnik missile followed reports of major progress in talks between Ukraine and its allies on how to defend the country from further aggression by Moscow if a U.S.-led peace deal is struck.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Saturday in his nightly address that Ukrainian negotiators “continue to communicate with the American side.”

Chief negotiator Rustem Umerov was in contact with U.S. partners Saturday, he said.

Separately, Ukraine’s General Staff said Russia targeted Ukraine with 154 drones overnight into Sunday and 125 were shot down.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

This photo provided by the Ukrainian Security Service on Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, shows a fragment believed to be a part of a Russian Oreshnik intermediate range hypersonic ballistic missile that hit the Lviv region. (Ukrainian Security Service via AP)

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy, second left, listens to British Defense Secretary John Healey during their meeting in Kyiv, Ukraine, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026. (AP Photo/Danylo Antoniuk)