Much was made of the fact he didn’t hit a home run for the Braves until July 20, but veteran Nick Markakis has been one of their steadiest hitters all season, particularly in pressure situations.
Markakis found himself in just such a spot again Friday, when he came through with a bases-loaded, two-run single in the seventh inning to put the Braves ahead for good in a 6-3 win against the Marlins at Turner Field, on a night when Julio Teheran outpitched Miami ace Jose Fernandez for much of the game.
Markakis’ decisive hit — the third of the night — came against left-hander Mike Dunn on a slider with one out, after fouling off a pair of 0-2 pitches and worked the count to 2-2.
“Everyone should want to be like Markakis, stepping in there and gets three hits after a sore thumb from (being hit by a pitch) last night,” said Braves rookie outfielder Todd Cunningham. “Tough lefty-lefty (matchup) and he gets the big hit. I don’t know why anyone wouldn’t want to be like that.
“It goes a long way to have some veteran leadership like that around a group of young guys.”
After the Marlins scored three runs in the seventh to take a 3-2 lead, the Braves answered with four in the bottom of the inning on their way to earning at least a split of the four-game series. They are 9-2 against the Marlins this season.
Teheran was charged with six hits and three runs in 6 2/3 strong innings and got no decision, and Arodys Vizcaino pitched around a leadoff single and two-out walk in the ninth for his second save, with assistance from Cunningham on a diving catch at the left-field line.
Cunningham also scored the tying run in the seventh on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice grounder by Daniel Castro, after the Braves challenged the out call at home and it was overturned upon review. Coach Horacio Ramirez, who manages the Braves’ instant-replay protocol, told manager Fredi Gonzalez to challenge the call.
“I think that replay worked today, because from the naked eye I’m thinking Cunningham is out easy,” Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said. “And we get a phone call from Horacio, who did a terrific job, him saying, ‘Hey, challenge it. He didn’t tag him and he missed the plate.’ I got on the phone, myself, which I never do, and he says, ‘No, challenge it.’ And so we did and sure enough, it was plain as day when they showed it on the (video board).”
Teheran left a 2-2 game with two out in the seventh and seeing the go-ahead run for the Marlins score on an infield single by speedy Dee Gordon against reliever Ross Detwiler.
The Braves got only two hits in their four-run seventh, but also took advantage of two Marlins errors and a walk, and won two challenges of umpire’s calls in the inning, including a call at third base overturned upon review.
Markakis had three hits, extending his hitting streak to 14 games and giving him a .361 average and 12 RBIs in his past 17 games, a stretch that began with the July 20 game against the Dodgers when he hit his first homer with the Braves.
He homered again Saturday at Philadelphia and has seven extra-base hits and a slugging percentage over .500 in his past 17 games, after carrying an on-base percentage higher than his slugging percentage until this week.
Markakis raised his overall average to .299, and pushed his average to .338 (26-for-77) in late-and-close situations — basically the seventh inning or later of tied or one-run games. He’s batting .316 with runners in scoring position.
After seeing opponents score 53 runs in the previous seven games, and with ace Fernandez pitching against them, the Braves needed Teheran to come through with another of the strong performances he’s had all season at Turner Field.
Teheran did until the seventh inning, when the Marlins scored three runs on three hits and one questionable defensive play, as Detwiler was a little slow to cover first base on the toss from first baseman Joey Terdoslavich on Gordon’s infield single.
“I know he’s one of the best pitchers in the game,” Teheran said of facing Fernandez. “He’s coming back from the surgery and doing a great job, so it was an exciting game. I was just trying to do my job, and I think I did it pretty good. I tried to do the same thing I did my last start (a win at Philadelphia last week), tried to command my fastball and use all my pitches, and that’s what I was able to do today.”
Fernandez retired the first 10 batters he faced, but Castro’s one-out walk in the fourth was followed by four consecutive singles — Markakis, A.J. Pierzynski, Cameron Maybin, Terdoslavich — that gave the Braves a 2-0 lead.
Those were the only four hits against Fernandez, but he left his briefest start of the season after five innings with the Marlins behind 2-0. The Braves were in position to hand him his first loss in 455 days. But not for long.
After consecutive singles by Martin Prado and Ichiro Suzuki to start the seventh, Adeiny Hechavarria hit a two-run triple to the right-center gap to tie the score and get Fernandez off the hook. Teheran got the next two batters on a groundout and strikeout with Hechavarria at third, but lefty Detwiler replaced him and Gordon’s two-out infield hit made put the Marlins ahead, 3-2..
Fernandez missed 13 months for Tommy John elbow surgery, returning at the beginning of July and posting a 2.13 ERA in six starts before Friday. He had six strikeouts and one walk to raise his season totals to 53 strikeouts and 10 walks in 43 innings.
The two runs he allowed were two more than the Braves scored against Fernandez in 16 innings of two starts last season. He got no decision to remain 3-1 with a 1.06 ERA in five career starts against the Braves.
