Blake Snell believes the Giants' future is bright despite San Francisco's disappointing start to a huge series against the Atlanta Braves.

Chris Sale and Blake Snell put on a pitching show Monday night in a matchup of aces before the Atlanta Braves edged the San Francisco Giants 1-0 on pinch-hitter Travis d'Arnaud's sacrifice fly in the 10th inning. “It was a grind from the start,” Sale said. Snell carried a no-hit bid through six innings for San Francisco, just 10 days after throwing his first career no-hitter at Cincinnati.

The Giants came up on the wrong end of a pitcher's duel Monday, losing 1-0 to the Atlanta Braves at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

The stars aligned for a pitchers' duel, and Chris Sale and Blake Snell created a constellation above the China Basin. Snell (6 ⅓ IP, 2H, 3BB, 11 K) no-hit the Braves for six innings and logged his third double-digit strikeout game as a Giant. Sale never flirted with a no-no, but lasted longer than Snell struck out one more batter than the Giants lefty.

The Giants are hovering over .500. Atlanta, one of three teams ahead of San Francisco in the wild card race, arrived to start this week for a four-game series at Oracle Park. The Giants and Braves each enter the four-game series with 61 wins, though Atlanta has played three fewer games.

The Giants are hovering over .500. Atlanta, one of three teams ahead of San Francisco in the wild card race, arrived to start this week for a four-game series at Oracle Park. The Giants and Braves each enter the four-game series with 61 wins, though Atlanta has played three fewer games.

All Times EDT East Division W L Pct GB Philadelphia 69 49 .585 — Atlanta 61 56 .521 7½ New York 61 57 .517 8 Washington 54 65 .454 15½ Miami 44 75 .370 25½ Central Division W L Pct GB Milwaukee 67 51 .568 — St. Louis 60 59 .504 7½ Chicago 59 61 .492 9 Cincinnati 58 61 .487 9½ Pittsburgh 56 61 .479 10½ West Division W L Pct GB Los Angeles 70 49 .588 — Arizona 66 53 .555 4 San Diego 66 53 .555 4 San Francisco 61 59 .508 9½ Colorado 44 75 .370 26 Sunday's Games L.A. Angels 6, Washington 4 Miami 7, San Diego 6 Cincinnati 4, Milwaukee 3 Colorado 9, Atlanta 8 Arizona 12, Philadelphia 5 Detroit 5, San Francisco 4 L.A. Dodgers 6, Pittsburgh 5, 10 innings Seattle 12, N.Y. Mets 1 Monday's Games Cincinnati

The San Francisco Giants are one of the hottest teams in baseball. The Giants are a long shot in the NL West, as they are nine games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers. Depending on how things shake out in their series against the Atlanta Braves, San Francisco could enter the weekend with a wild card spot in hand.

Camilo Doval's first few minutes back in Triple-A couldn't have gone much better. Doval, optioned by the Giants last week, was a pitch away from an immaculate inning on Sunday night in Albuquerque, but an 0-2 cutter to Colorado Rockies minor leaguer Greg Jones was just above the zone. The next batter hit a slider into the gap for an RBI triple and a single put a second run on Doval's line. In his first minor league appearance since 2021, Doval gave up two runs on two hits, a walk and two stolen bases, but manager Bob Melvin came away encouraged after watching clips from the outing.

The event will be broadcasted on Bally Sports South at 8:45 p.m. CT. Fans can watch this matchup for free online by using the free trials offered by Fubo TV and DirecTV Stream. Atlanta enters this game with a 61-56 record, as they have struggled to maintain a winning record this year. The Braves started off strong and were first place in the division for a couple of months, but they have been alarmingly inconsistent this year.

Dillon Dingler hit his first career home run, Matt Vierling also went deep, and the Detroit Tigers held on to beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 on Sunday to avoid the three-game series sweep. Colt Keith added two hits and an RBI and three Tigers relievers combined for four shutout innings to back rookie Keider Montero's uneven outing. Detroit's 19th one-run win of the season snapped a three-game losing streak for manager A.J. Hinch's ballclub.

When the San Francisco Giants were struggling to start the season due to injuries, there was one player on the roster who managed to continue being one of the best in baseball. Logan Webb had to pick up plenty of slack during the first few months of the year, and as a return, the right-hander was named an All-Star. Webb can do multiple things at a high level, but his ability to stay on the mound throughout the past four seasons has been very impressive. The Giants are lucky to have him, and he seems to be loving his time in San Francisco.

This article is part of our MLB Picks series. Atlanta and San Fran have been two of the stronger National League teams over the last few seasons. The Braves are a slight favorite on the road in a game that features an incredibly low total headlined by two stud lefties. For as much talent as Chris Sale has, it's peculiar he was never able to win a Cy Young award.

A player like Angel Guzman is why a team like the San Francisco Giants puts every single scouting dollar to work. Guzman didn't cost the Giants much when they signed him as an international free agent out of the Dominican Republic in 2023. Like many of those players, the Giants kept him close to home and had him play in the Dominican Summer League, where he slashed .257/.392/.450/.842 with four home runs and 26 RBI. San Francisco opted to keep the left-handed hitter, now 18 years old, in the Dominican Summer League for one more year.

Chris Sale will get an opportunity to try to replicate a standout performance on its 10th anniversary Monday night when the Atlanta Braves kick off a high-stakes, four-game road series against the San Francisco Giants. The Braves (61-56) and Giants (61-59) begin the week separated by 1 1/2 games in the National League's crowded wild-card race. San Francisco moved up at Atlanta's expense when it won two of three in a trip to Georgia last month. Sale (13-3, 2.75 ERA) pitched the Braves' lone win in that series, a 3-1 victory on July 6.

Atlanta Braves (61-56, second in the NL East) vs. San Francisco Giants (61-59, fourth in the NL West) San Francisco; Monday, 9:45 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Braves: Chris Sale (13-3, 2.75 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 165 strikeouts); Giants: Blake Snell (2-3, 4.31 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 80 strikeouts) BETMGM SPORTSBOOK : LINE Braves -118, Giants -102; over/under is 6 1/2 runs BOTTOM LINE: The Atlanta Braves take on the San Francisco Giants after Orlando Arcia had four hits on Sunday in a 9-8 loss to the Rockies. San Francisco is 61-59 overall and 35-24 in home games. The Giants have gone 23-8 in games when they hit two or more home runs. Atlanta is 29-30 on the road and 61-56 overall. The Braves are 41-13 in games

The National West on the whole is the spendiest division in major league baseball. And, despite predictions to the contrary, it has become the most competitive. After the Los Angeles Dodgers committed almost $1.2 billion to add elite talent including Shohei Ohtani, Yoshinobu Yamamoto, Tyler Glasnow and Teoscar Hernandez in the winter, many in the industry considered their 10th division championship in the last 11 seasons to be a foregone conclusion.

SAN FRANCISCO -- - Dillon Dingler hit his first career home run, Matt Vierling also went deep, and the Detroit Tigers held on to beat the San Francisco Giants 5-4 on Sunday to avoid the three-game series sweep. Colt Keith added two hits and an RBI and three Tigers relievers combined for four shutout innings to back rookie Keider Montero's uneven outing. Detroit's 19th one-run win of the season snapped a three-game losing streak for manager A.J. Hinch's ballclub.

Matt Chapman was "disgusted" by his baserunning decision on a day that could have put the Giants in the driver's seat for the third NL wild-card spot.

This weekend was a special one for the San Francisco Giants and their fans. Bumgarner's heroics will forever live on in Giants lore. After throwing a complete game shutout in Game 5, a 5-0 victory for San Francisco, he closed out Game 7 by firing five more shutout innings to help secure the victory. It was an impressive feat as Bumgarner threw 117 pitches in Game 5 before coming back three days later and throwing 68 more.