Second verse, same as the first, apparently: the Braves picked up right where they left off in their first game following the All-Star Break, crushing the White Sox by a final 9-0 tally. In what was pretty much a reprise of their summer surge, they scored four in the first and cruised from there for their 61st win of the season.
After Charlie Morton threw a 1-2-3 first, the bats made Michael Kopech’s return from the Injured List a miserable one. Kopech, who had struggled for a few starts before being shut down with shoulder concerns in mid-June, was clearly never right in this game, missing again and again with his fastball.