Braves' late surge stuns slumping Mariners as Chris Sale shines in 4-1 win

ATLANTA (AP) — Chris Sale pitched 6 2/3 strong innings, Ozzie Albies went 3 for 4 with an RBI and the Atlanta Braves used a three-run eighth inning to beat the slumping Seattle Mariners 4-1 on Friday night.

The Mariners, who hold the final American League wild card spot, lost for the sixth time in seven games during their current nine-game road trip.

The Braves' outburst made a winner out of Tyler Kinley (5-3), who pitched a scoreless eighth inning. Kinley has 12 consecutive scoreless appearances for the Braves and has given up just 1 run in 15 games since being acquired from the Colorado Rockies.

Raisel Iglesias pitched a perfect ninth for his 24th save.

Sale, in his second start since missing 62 games with a broken rib, gave up one run and four hits with nine strikeouts and no walks in 92 pitches.

Jurickson Profar was 2 for 4 with two runs scored. He led off the eighth with a double, then scored on Matt Olson's single. Albies tripled home Olson, then scored on a single by Drake Baldwin.

The Braves were leading 1-0 when Sale was lifted with a runner on first and two outs in the seventh. Dominic Canzone and Leo Rivas singled off Dylan Lee to tie the game 1-1 before Lee struck out Harry Ford. It was the first at-bat of Ford's MLB career.

Mariners starter Logan Gilbert gave up one run in six innings. He struck out seven and surrendered five hits and one walk.

The first four batters for the Braves reached base in the eighth inning against Mariners reliever Gabe Speier (2-3), who failed to record an out. Olson's single broke a 1-1 tie and Albies' triple to right put the Braves in front 3-1.

Chris Sale has pitched at least six innings and given up no more than one run in his last eight starts.

Mariners RHP Bryce Miller (4-5, 5.71) will face Braves rookie RHP Hurston Waldrep (4-0, 1.01) on Saturday.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Seattle Mariners outfielder Julio Rodríguez makes a catch in the second inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Atlanta Braves' Jurickson Profar runs to score in the first inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Seattle Mariners pitcher Logan Gilbert delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Atlanta Braves, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

Atlanta Braves pitcher Chris Sale delivers in the first inning of a baseball game against the Seattle Mariners, Friday, Sept. 5, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Colin Hubbard)

SHEFFIELD, England (AP) — It was Georgia's day at the European figure skating championships Thursday.

Skaters representing the former Soviet nation won the pairs gold medal and took the lead in the men's event at the championships, a key warmup for next month's Winter Olympics.

Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava recovered from a fall to win their first European title after silver in 2024 and bronze last year.

The Georgians had the lead from Wednesday's short program and, even though Metelkina fell on a triple toeloop, the rest of their free skate was strong to score 139.80 for a total 215.76.

The two skaters laid on their backs on the ice in relief after finishing their free skate, as Berulava pumped his fists and made a snow angel gesture.

The title defense of Germany's Minerva Hase and Nikita Volodin ended with an erratic free skate. Hase fell on a throw triple loop and tumbled to the ice again when Volodin tried to lower her down from their final lift.

Hase seemed in pain as she waited for the scores, and then stunned to see that she and Volodin had scored enough to stay ahead overall of third-place Maria Pavlova and Alexei Sviatchenko of Hungary, 203.87 to 202.56.

Georgian figure skater Nika Egadze edged ahead of two Estonian brothers to take the lead in the men's short program.

Egadze scored 91.28 points for the lead after starting his program with a bang, following up a quadruple salchow-triple toeloop combination with a quad toeloop.

That was enough to beat last year's silver medalist Aleksandr Selevko on 88.71 and his younger brother Mihhail on 88.28. Defending champion Lukas Britschgi was sixth for Switzerland.

Estonia is on track for more medals as Niina Petrokina leads the women's event ahead of Friday's free skate.

AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics

Estonia's Aleksandr Selevko competes during the Men's Short Program on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, Thursday, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Georgia's Nika Egadze competes during the Men's Short Program on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, Thursday, Wednesday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Germany's Minerva Fabienne Hase and Nikita Volodin compete during the Pairs Free Skating on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava compete during the Pairs Free Skating on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)

Georgia's Anastasiia Metelkina and Luka Berulava compete during the Pairs Free Skating on day two of the ISU European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield, England, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026. (Mike Egerton/PA via AP)