SANDY SPRINGS, Ga. (Interstat) — Chris Sale pitched seven shutout innings and Drake Baldwin drove in five runs as the Atlanta Braves routed the Texas Rangers 15-1 on Friday night at Truist Park before a crowd of 40,147.

The game lasted 2 hours, 54 minutes.

Sale improved to 10-6, allowing two hits and striking out six over seven innings. He walked none and retired 11 straight batters at one point. Cal Quantrill took the loss, falling to 3-2, after allowing eight runs on 12 hits in 4 2/3 innings.

Atlanta jumped ahead in the second inning. Dominic Smith led off with a single, and Austin Riley followed with a single to put runners at first and second. After a strikeout and a flyout, Baldwin lined a single to left that scored Smith. Ozzie Albies then singled to right to bring home Riley, giving the Braves a 2-0 lead.

The Braves broke the game open in the fourth inning. Jim Jarvis singled, and Brewer Hicklen doubled to put runners at second and third. Baldwin launched his 16th home run of the season to center field, a three-run shot that made it 5-0. One out later, Matt Olson crushed his 26th homer to right field, stretching the lead to 6-0.

Atlanta added two more in the fifth. Smith walked and moved to third on a flyout. Jarvis doubled to right to score Smith, and later scored on Baldwin’s second single of the night, making it 8-0.

Sale continued to dominate, allowing only a double to Brandon Nimmo in the seventh, but he stranded Nimmo there. Sale exited after seven having thrown 17 strikes, 38 balls and 17 balls in play.

The Braves poured on four runs in the seventh. With two outs and the bases loaded after a walk, hit by pitch and another walk, Michael Harris II doubled to right-center to clear the bases, scoring Baldwin, Albies and Olson. Mauricio Dubón followed with an RBI single, extending the margin to 12-0.

Texas finally got on the board in the eighth against reliever Victor Mederos. Cam Cauley doubled and scored on a single by Nicky Lopez. Justin Foscue singled, but Mederos stranded two runners. Mederos went two innings, allowing three hits and one earned run with one strikeout. He also contributed at the plate, driving in two runs with a single in the bottom of the eighth.

Atlanta responded immediately in the bottom half. Riley led off with his 10th home run of the season to left. Later, with two outs, Jorge Mateo doubled, and Mederos singled to left to drive in two more, making it 15-1.

The Braves finished with 19 hits. Baldwin went 3-for-4 with a home run and five RBIs. Harris was 2-for-6 with three RBIs. Riley went 2-for-5 with a home run and one RBI. Olson went 2-for-3 with a home run and one RBI. Jarvis and Dubón each had two hits and one RBI. Mederos was 1-for-1 with two RBIs.

Texas managed five hits. Nimmo had a double, Cauley doubled and scored, Lopez had an RBI single, Foscue had a single, and Elias Díaz had a single.

The loss dropped the Rangers to 49-48. The Braves improved to 56-40.

Atlanta’s win followed a 4-3 victory at St. Louis on Sunday and a split of that four-game series. Texas entered having taken two of three from Houston at home.

The two teams meet again Saturday in the second game of this three-game series. Texas then hosts Chicago White Sox for three games starting Monday, followed by a four-game set with Seattle. Atlanta continues its homestand with a three-game series against San Diego starting Monday, then travels to Baltimore and New York.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Atlanta 6, Texas 5. Interstat’s ELO system gave Atlanta a 57.40 percent probability to win. Atlanta had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of minus-1.5. The total of 16 runs went under the over/under line of 8.5.