Braves score 7 in 1st inning of 12-2 rout against Marlins
After using perfect relief in the last three innings to hang on for a 2-1 win on opening day, the Braves did away with suspense early in Game 2 by blitzing the Marlins for seven runs in the first inning Tuesday night in a 12-2 rout at Marlins Park.
The Braves improved to 2-0 to start the season, and the only similarity between the two wins was the fact they didn’t hit a home run in either. This Atlanta team doesn’t expect to hit an abundance of long balls this season, but they served notice Tuesday that they’re capable of lighting up a scoreboard occasionally without hitting balls over the fences.
“It’s only the second game of the season, but I’m really pleased with the way our offense is grinding out at-bats,” said manager Fredi Gonzalez, whose Braves knocked Marlins starter Mat Latos out of the game in the first inning, pummeling the right-hander for six hits, seven runs and two walks before he exited after recording just two outs.
“We had some good at-bats, we got deep in the count, and we kept the line moving,” Gonzalez said. “The thing I liked about the whole game was, we never gave any at-bats away, even at the end. Guys kept grinding, pitch after pitch.”
It seemed fitting that Alex Wood (1-0) would be the beneficiary of the Braves’ first robust run support in the new season, after the left-hander was the team’s hard-luck starter in that regard last year. Remarkably, the Braves scored one or no runs while he was in the game in half of his 24 starts in 2014.
Wood got out of a bases-loaded, no-outs jam in the first inning and was charged with two runs, four hits and three walks in five innings. He labored and needed 85 pitches to get through five innings, but still had a shutout going until Donovan Solano’s pinch-hit triple in the fifth.
Braves rookie pitchers Brandon Cunniff, Cody Martin and Juan Jaime took care of the final four scoreless innings, with Cunniff and Martin shining in their major league debuts. Cunniff hadn’t pitched above Double-A before Tuesday, when worked a hitless sixth inning with one walk and one strikeout.
Martin, who didn’t allow a run in nine innings as a starting-rotation candidate during spring training, allowed just one hit while collecting four strikeouts in two scoreless innings in his regular-season debut. Jaime allowed one walk in an otherwise unblemished ninth.
Latos looked as if he were throwing batting practice to the Braves, who in the first inning got RBI doubles from Freddie Freeman, Christian Bethancourt and Chris Johnson, a two-run single by Andrelton Simmons, and run-scoring singles by Nick Markakis and Eric Young Jr.
The Braves sent 12 batters to the plate in the first inning.
“Yeah, that wasn’t what I was expecting,” Wood said, laughing. “Forty, 45, 50 minutes before I even threw a first pitch. I got an (at-bat) before I even got out there. But anytime they want to do that, I’m definitely alright with it. I’m just glad we came out like we did and how we played the first two nights. We played really well, really good baseball. So, a win’s a win.”
Simmons and Freeman had three hits apiece, and Freeman has four hits in the first two games of the series after totaling 10 hits against the Marlins in 19 games last season.
“We scored seven early, shut it down for a few innings, then picked it right up,” Freeman said. “It was good to see that we were able to come back in the late innings and score some more runs and didn’t completely shut it down. Everybody got into the action today, even our pinch-hitters got some hits, (Cameron) Maybin and Alberto (Callaspo).
“It was good to see Chris Johnson get in there and get a couple of hits against some tough pitchers, and get a couple of RBIs. Good team win all the way around.”
Chris Johnson and Markakis added two hits apiece for the Braves, who got a two-run single from newcomer Maybin in a four-run ninth inning that pushed their lead to double figures. Marlins closer Steve Cishek was charged with four runs in the ninth inning.
The Braves matched their first-inning season-high run total from 2014. They last scored seven in the first inning at Colorado on June 10, when Simmons hit a first-inning grand slam. The Upton formerly known as B.J. had an RBI triple and Tommy La Stella a run-scoring single in that day’s first inning, and Freeman and Evan Gattis both homered later in the 13-10 Braves win.
Freeman, Chris Johnson and Simmons were the only three Braves in the lineup that day in Colorado who are still on the team.
New leadoff hitter Young started Tuesday’s first inning with a walk and a stolen base before Markakis drove him in with a one-out single. In the first two games, Young has provided just the type of spark that Gonzalez hoped to get from the first leadoff-type hitter the Braves have had atop their lineup since Michael Bourn.
Markakis was the first of six consecutive Braves to reach base before Latos recorded a second out. After Markakis drove in the first run of the game, Freeman and Bethancourt followed with consecutive doubles to push the lead to 3-0. Kelly Johnson walked, and Chris Johnson doubled off the wall in left-center to drive in another run.
The Marlins Park crowd was getting restless. A smattering of boos turned into a chorus when Johnson’s double was followed by Simmons’ two-run single. After Wood’s sacrifice bunt, Young singled to push the Braves’ lead to 7-0 and Latos got the hook from Marlins manager Mike Redmond.
The Braves consistently got deep in counts against Latos, “and we were going from first to third (taking extra base), doing a lot of hustle plays,” Freeman said. “That’s what we were trying to stress in spring training, put a lot of pressure on the defense. We’re not going to wow you with the long ball this year, that’s what we’ve got to do – we’ve got to go first to third, second to home, if we can take that extra base, take it whenever you can. That’s what we did tonight.”
