Chris Sale tossed seven stellar innings and Drake Baldwin homered and drove in four runs on Saturday night to help the visiting Atlanta Braves post a 9-1 victory over the Colorado Rockies.

Sale (6-1) allowed one run on three hits, striking out 11 and walking three for Atlanta, which remains the only MLB team to have not lost a series. Austin Riley also homered for the Braves, who built on their commanding National League East division lead. Their 24-10 record is the best in baseball.

Brennan Bernardino (2-1) served as the opener for the Rockies, allowing two runs on three hits in two-thirds of an inning. Chase Dollander then took over, throwing 5 1/3 innings of eight-hit, six-run ball, striking out three and walking three for Colorado, which dropped their fourth game in five tries.

After Ronald Acuna Jr. began the game with a single, Baldwin launched his eighth homer of the year on a drive to left to give the Braves a 2-0 lead.

In the second, Jorge Mateo doubled before Baldwin’s RBI single extended the lead to 3-0.

Kyle Karros singled to begin the third and scored on Jordan Beck’s two-out double, cutting the Rockies’ deficit to 3-1.

Eli White hit a run-scoring single and Baldwin’s double drove in a run in the fourth, before Ozzie Albies’ sacrifice fly made it 6-1 for Atlanta.

Michael Harris II singled and advanced to second on right fielder Troy Johnston’s error in the fifth, then scored on Riley’s two-run homer to left-center to push the lead to 8-1.

Tanner Gordon threw three innings in relief, allowing Matt Olson’s 11th home run of the season in the ninth to give the Braves a 9-1 lead.

Hunter Stratton threw a scoreless ninth to seal the win for the red-hot Braves.

–Field Level Media

Evander converted a penalty kick seven minutes into second-half stoppage time to secure a hat trick and lift FC Cincinnati to a 3-2 road win over the Chicago Fire on Saturday.

Evander collected a brace in the first half and then added his third goal for the late winner. A yellow card was issued to Chicago’s Dje D’Avilla for a foul in the box on Pavel Bucha, leading to the deciding penalty kick.

The winning goal came six minutes after Chicago striker Hugo Cuypers missed his own chance to complete a hat trick with a penalty-kick strike. Goalkeeper Roman Celentano (eight saves) made a huge save to deny Cuypers and preserve the 2-2 score.

FC Cincinnati (4-4-3, 15 points) won despite playing with only 10 men for most of the second half. Defender Kyle Smith was issued a straight red card in the 56th minute for an accidental kick to the face of the Fire’s Robin Lod.

Cincinnati is unbeaten in its last five (2-0-3) matches, including a 3-3 draw with the Fire two weeks prior.

The victory was Cincinnati’s first win in six road matches this season (1-3-2). FC Cincinnati are 5-0-1 in their last six trips to Chicago.

The Fire (5-3-2, 17 points) have held leads in all three of their losses this season. Saturday’s defeat ended a five-match (4-0-1) unbeaten streak for the home side.

After going scoreless in his first six regular-season matches, Evander now has five goals in his last four matches.

Cuypers has 10 goals in seven league matches this season, scoring at least once in every appearance. Cuypers’ three straight matches with multiple goals ties the second-longest brace streak in MLS history.

The forward started early Saturday, as Cuypers converted a shot that deflected off Smith and into the net in the 16th minute.

Shaky defending also aided in Evander’s equalizer in the 24th minute. During a scramble in front of the Fire’s net, Chicago center back Mbekezeli Mbokazi made a poor touch on a clearance attempt that put the ball right at Evander’s feet for the finish.

Cuypers completed the brace four minutes later, but Evander provided another quick response in the 31st minute.

–Field Level Media

Logan Stankoven scored twice and goaltender Frederik Andersen collected his second shutout of this year’s playoffs as the host Carolina Hurricanes opened their playoff series against the Philadelphia Flyers with a 3-0 victory on Saturday in Raleigh, N.C.

Jackson Blake scored once and added an assist for the Hurricanes, who followed a first-round sweep of the Ottawa Senators with a decisive victory to kick off the Eastern Conference best-of-seven semifinal series.

Andersen made 18 saves for his seventh career playoff shutout.

Mike Reilly collected a pair of assists.

Dan Vladar stopped 20 shots for the Flyers, who will attempt to regroup when the series resumes Monday in Raleigh.

The Hurricanes, who finished atop the Eastern Conference standings in the regular season, are yet to trail in this year’s Stanley Cup playoffs and continued that trend thanks to their hottest player.

Stankoven tallied for the fifth consecutive game to open the scoring only 91 seconds into the clash. Reilly fired a point shot that Stankoven deflected into the net. Stankoven, 23, is the youngest player in history to score goals in five consecutive games to open the playoffs.

Stankoven has scored first in four of Carolina’s five playoff outings.

Blake doubled the lead six minutes later with a highlight-reel worthy tally. He zipped around the defenders before tucking home the puck for his second tally of the playoffs.

The Flyers had managed only one shot on goal at the point.

Stankoven gave the Hurricanes a three-goal edge late in the second period. After a turnover, Seth Jarvis fed a pass to Stankoven in the slot and he immediately buried the chance with 3:44 remaining in the middle frame.

From there, the Hurricanes cruised to victory, amidst a string of message-sending infractions by the Flyers and retaliatory actions from Carolina’s skaters.

After a handful of players were sent to the dressing room with misconducts just past the midway point of the final frame, things quieted.

–Field Level Media