CHICAGO -- The opportunities were there.
The Braves put runners on base in nearly every inning Wednesday night. They loaded the bases in the second. They had runners in scoring position in the third, fourth and seventh. They put the tying run on base in the ninth.
What they didn't do was deliver the hit that mattered.
As a result, Chris Sale's return to Rate Field ended in frustration, and the Braves dropped a 2-1 decision to the White Sox, the first time Atlanta has lost the first two games of a set this season.
"We had opportunities," manager Walt Weiss said. " ... [Austin] Wynns lined out three times. I think we hit some balls hard,x but bottom line is we left 10 guys on base and didn't get the big hit, so it's tough to win scoring one."
That reality followed the Braves from the second inning through the final out.
Atlanta's best chance came early.
After Dominic Smith lined out to begin the second, Mauricio Dubón singled, Austin Riley was hit by a pitch and Mike Yastrzemski punched a single into right field to load the bases with one out. It appeared the Braves were on the verge of breaking through against White Sox starter Davis Martin.
Instead, Martin escaped.
Jorge Mateo struck out swinging and Wynns lined out sharply to right fielder Braden Montgomery, ending the threat and preserving a scoreless game.
The missed opportunity loomed larger as the night progressed.
Sale largely matched Martin pitch for pitch. Returning to the ballpark where his Major League career began, the veteran left-hander showcased the electric fastball that made him a star on the South Side more than a decade ago. He averaged 97.6 mph with the pitch, touched 99.4 mph and struck out six across 5 2/3 innings.
Sale battled through traffic throughout the evening, throwing 103 pitches while allowing six hits and two runs. Despite the loss, he said he has been feeling increasingly strong over his last several starts.
"I've been feeling pretty good over my last handful of starts," Sale said. "I've been getting some extra rest and putting in a lot of work, so [the velo increase is] probably a combination of a lot of things."
The Braves finally scratched across a run in the seventh.
Mateo opened the inning with a single before Ozzie Albies hit a ground ball that skipped past third baseman Miguel Vargas for an error. Mateo raced all the way around from first to score, cutting the deficit to 2-1 and briefly injecting life into Atlanta's dugout.
But even that rally fizzled.
Olson worked a two-out walk to bring the tying run into scoring position, yet Smith popped out to end the inning.
The Braves finished with seven hits, drew two walks and left 10 runners on base.
The frustration wasn't limited to the box score.
Yastrzemski hit multiple balls on the screws and had little to show for it. Wynns lined out multiple times. Several of Atlanta's hardest-hit balls found waiting gloves instead of open grass.
Still, Weiss wasn't interested in overreacting.
"It's just the ups and downs of a baseball season, especially offensively," Weiss said. "That ebbs and flows more than any other aspect of the game. It can get infectious either way, good and bad. Our offense has been really good this year. Typically when we've stalled a little bit, we've bounced back with a vengeance, and I expect that's what we'll do."
The Braves will certainly need that bounce-back soon.
They've scored just six runs through the first two games of this series.
For one night, however, the issue wasn't a lack of opportunities.
It was a failure to capitalize on them.