MIAMI – With a chance to complete their first road-series sweep of the season, the Braves had the right guy on the mound in R.A. Dickey. And for 6 2/3 innings, the veteran knuckleballer did not disappoint.
But after the Braves wasted numerous scoring opportunities through seven innings, the Marlins took advantage of one of their own in a big way in the bottom of the seventh when pinch-hitter Tyler Moore hit a three-run, two-out homer off Dickey, lifting Miami to a 3-1 win to prevent a series sweep by the Braves.
“It was, like, the (only) one that didn’t knuckle,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of the pitch to Moore that didn’t have the unpredictable movement of most of Dickey’s other knuckleballs Sunday. “I mean, he was really good all day. I thought he was going to throw a shutout.”
The Marlins snapped a five-game losing streak and won for just the fourth time in 18 games since a 10-8 start.
The Braves lost for only the fourth time in 13 games over two seasons at Marlins Park and fell to 2-3 on a three-city, eight-game trip that will culminate with two interleague games at Toronto Monday and Tuesday. Atlanta (13-21) had moved into a third-place tie with Philadelphia in the National League East ahead of Miami (13-22) before Sunday.
After winning the first two games of the series, the Braves took a 1-0 lead on Nick Markakis’ two-out single in the fifth inning Sunday, but that was their only hit in 13 at-bats with runners in scoring position including 12 at-bats in the first seven innings.
The loss snapped an eight-game winning streak against the Marlins by Dickey, who went 8-0 with a 1.25 ERA in nine starts against the Marlins in his last two seasons with the Mets in 2011-2012, before he was traded to Toronto.
“We had chances throughout the game to kind of bust that game open, and just couldn’t get that hit,” Snitker said. “It was all the right guys (up with runners in scoring position). I felt good about our chances every time we got in that situation, felt like we were going to make something happen. It just didn’t happen.”
The Braves loaded the bases with one out in the first inning before Markakis grounded into a double play. They had two on with one out in the third inning when Freddie Freeman struck out and Matt Kemp lined out to end the inning.
Adonis Garcia, who reached base four times on two walks, a hit-by-pitch and a seventh-inning leadoff single, was thrown out on a close play at third trying to advance from first to third on Freeman’s single for the first out of the inning. And after Markakis was walked intentionally to put runners on the corners with two out in the seventh, Kurt Suzuki flied out.
“We had the opportunities, just didn’t get it done today,” said Freeman, who also popped out with two on for the first out in the fifth inning. “As much as we want to do it every single time we get the opportunity, it just didn’t happen. One thing led to another. We had our opportunities with guys in the middle of the order. We just didn’t get it done today.”
Still, until the seventh inning Dickey (3-3) seemed poised to pick up a ninth consecutive win in his past 10 starts against the Marlins. He took a three-hit shutout through six innings and had gotten out of the only tight spots he faced in that span by striking out Giancarlo Stanton to end the first inning with two on and inducing a Justin Bour ground-out with two on to end the third.
But in the seventh, he got into trouble quickly after a leadoff double by Stanton. There were two runners on with one out after Dickey walked A.J. Ellis.
“The walk to Ellis was big,” Dickey said. “I certainly was going to pitch him carefully to get a force-out for the next guy up. I felt like I had control of the game up to that point. Sometimes you throw these unintentional intentional walks just to give yourself the best chance to get force-outs and whatnot. In that situation I wasn’t going to give in, I threw a good pitch (to Ellis), I thought it was there, and (the umpire called a ball).
“So, that meant that that other guy, Moore, was going to get a shot. And he ambushed kind of a tumbler. We lose.”
Dickey coaxed a soft fly in foul territory by J.T. Riddle for the second out to bring up Moore. Dickey was kept in to face him despite Moore’s three hits including a homer in five previous at-bats against the knuckleballer.
Make that 4-for-6 with two homers after Moore hit a first-pitch drive over the center-field fence, turning the game around completely. From a one-run lead for the Braves to a two-run deficit after one pitch to Moore, who hit his first homer of the season and fourth career pinch-hit homer, the last coming two years and one day earlier at Arizona.
Moore was Snitker’s Triple-A Gwinnett team in April 2016 before Moore got hurt and Snitker was promoted to replace fired Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez.
“He’s got some hits off R.A.,” Snitker said. “If the ball does what it’s doing all day long, he doesn’t (hit the home run). It just went up there and kind of stopped, and he did his job (to hit it).”
Dickey was charged with five hits, three runs and three walks in seven innings, and for the series Braves starters allowed 14 hits, four runs and five walks in 19 innings. A major improvement over the starting rotation’s recent performances.
“It was a good series,” Snitker said. “We had three really strong starts out of the guys.”
