Christian Scott allowed five hits and one run with one walk and seven strikeouts over six innings in a tough-luck loss against the Braves.

Scott stood up to the tall task of battling with the Braves’ lineup and Chris Sale in this game. He matched Sale with zeroes over the first five innings, but gave up a run in the sixth after nine-hitter Jim Jarvis got him for a two-strike double and Matt Olson later drove him in. As far as silver linings go, this was the first time this season that Scott completed six innings and he was highly effective on the whole. His fastball led the way with 10 swings-and-misses and he threw it more than half of the time. Facing a lineup with six left-handed hitters, Scott had to shy a bit away from his trusted sweeper and instead threw some cutters plus more curveballs and splitters than usual. He’s been working hard to make those last two pitches more consistent and while they didn’t miss bats, it was encouraging to see his relative trust in them. He lowered his ERA to 2.99 in what’s been a breakout season so far and is lined up for a two-start week against the Guardians and Pirates coming up.