Jason Grilli made things interesting by giving up a run on two hits in the ninth, but the Braves closer helped everyone breathe again when he struck out Jeff Baker to end a 3-2 win over the Marlins late Monday at Turner Field.
Another night of solid starting pitching, four innings of high-caliber relief, and a few timely hits and manufactured runs allowed the Braves to shrug off two rain delays and improve the National League’s best record to 6-1 before a sparse crowd at Turner Field.
“There’s an old saying that winning hides a lot of bad stuff, but I think right now there is no bad stuff in there,” said manager Fredi Gonzalez, whose Braves have jelled quickly after being overhauled during the offseason.
The Marlins got a Martin Prado leadoff double and a two-out walk in the ninth before Adeiny Hechavarria singled in a run. Grilli struck out pinch-hitter Baker for his third strikeout in the inning and notched a fourth consecutive save since being thrust into the closer role following the trade of Craig Kimbrel on opening-day eve.
Consecutive first-pitch singles by Alberto Callaspo and Nick Markakis in the fifth drove in a pair of runs and sent the Braves to the series-opening win against a team they swept at Miami to start the season.
Shelby Miller (1-0) pitched five solid innings for his first Braves win, despite having to deal with the delays and throwing a simulated 10-pitch inning during the fourth-inning stoppage. Miller allowed three hits, one run and two walks.
“For the conditions and the weather he was awesome,” said Braves leadoff hitter Eric Young Jr., who had two doubles and scored the second of the team’s fifth-inning runs. “Having to sit for a rain delay and still coming out and doing his job. For a starting pitcher going off and on, getting hot and cold, that could be dangerous. For what he did tonight you tip your cap to him. He did a tremendous job. Our whole pitching staff, starters and relievers alike, have been doing it.”
After drawing more than 110,000 for a three-game weekend series against the Mets, the Braves played before an intimate gathering – announced as 13,417, but not nearly that many in the place — and just kept doing what they’ve been doing.
“We are trying to take (hitting coach Kevin) Seitzer’s approach into every game,” Young said. “We’re not going to rely on the home-run ball this year. We’re going to be able to manufacture runs, squeeze across just enough to win the game. Tonight we got the 3-2 win but it doesn’t really matter how you get the ‘W’ just as long as you get it.”
There was a delay of 52 minutes prior to the first pitch and another lasting 39 minutes after the top of the fourth inning, and the Braves got all three of their runs against Marlins starter Mat Latos (0-2) soon after the second delay.
That included two runs in the fifth on singles by Callaspo and Markakis off reliever Sam Dyson for a 3-1 lead. Latos left following a pinch-hit leadoff single by Jace Peterson and Young’s second double of the game, and Dyson’s first two pitches were whacked for singles to give the Braves a two-run margin.
Miller has a tidy 0.90 ERA in his first two starts. Effective if not particularly efficient so far, the right-hander has thrown 185 pitches in two games while lasting five innings in each. He said he could’ve stayed in the game Monday but understood the move to bring in pinch-hitter Jace Peterson to lead off the inning.
“Of course I want to be a little bit more efficient but I still feel strong out there whether I have 50 pitches or 100,” Miller said. “Obviously that was a game where I want to go back out but at the same time that was good managing. Jace goes out there and gets a hit and we score two runs which eventually won us the ballgame. You tip your cap to the hitters for doing what they did and that’s a good managing call right there.”
Braves rookie Cody Martin recorded six outs in six batters over the sixth and seventh innings, including an inning-ending double-play grounder by Michael Morse in the sixth and strikeouts of Marcell Ozuna and Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the seventh. Martin has allowed two hits and no walks with nine strikeouts in 5 1/3 scoreless innings in four appearances.
After giving up seven runs and failing to make it out of the first inning in a 12-2 loss to the Braves last week, Latos was charged with five hits and three runs (two earned) in four-plus innings Monday, the last two scoring after he was out.
Following a nearly one-hour break for the second delay and the Braves’ half of the fourth inning, Miller walked No. 8 hitter Hechavarria to start the fifth, but retired the next three batters to keep the score tied, 1-1.
The Braves had gotten their first run courtesy of Braves catcher Christian Bethancourt’s legs. His throwing arm is his biggest strength, but the rookie manufactured the tying run in the fourth by running.
After his one-out single, Bethancourt stole second and aggressively advanced to third when catcher Saltalamacchia’s throw caromed off the defender covering the base. A subsequent throw to third base brought Prado into Bethancourt’s path, the ball getting past when the two collided on Bethancourt’s slide.
He scored on a wild-pitch ball four to Andrelton Simmons, an unearned run for a 1-1 tie.
The Braves had Latos in a tight spot with one out in the second inning after Chris Johnson hit his fourth double in 11 at-bats and Bethancourt walked. But after Latos struck out Simmons, left fielder Christian Yelich made a sensational diving catch to snag Cameron Maybin’s line drive near the front edge of the warning track.
Having thwarted the Braves’ rally, Yelich drove in the first run of the game in the next inning. A pair of singles put Marlins on the corners with one out before Dee Gordon stole second base against Bethancourt, who threw him out last week in Miami. Yelich followed without a groundout to short that drove in a run, instead of starting a potential double play if Gordon were still at first.
