The opponent changed for the Braves on Friday. The rest pretty much stayed the same until the Marlins helped the Braves out with a fielding miscue and Nick Markakis took advantage.
The Braves got pretty good pitching and plenty of hits but few of those hits came with runners on base, just like when the Brewers swept them. They finally got a key knock when Marlins third baseman Martin Prado couldn’t handle Markakis’ line drive single that scored two runs in the eighth inning for a 4-2 Braves victory.
“Man, when that ball went off that glove it was just like, ‘Wow, it can’t happen,’” Braves interim manager Brian Snitker wsaid. “We were wondering. Guys were lining out, having good at-bats. Finally, one went our way.”
The victory was just the third in 23 games for the Braves at Turner Field, where they are 3-20 overall. The Braves (13-34) improved to 4-0 against the Marlins, who they swept in Miami April 15-17.
The Braves took advantage when some luck went their way.
Pinch hitter Kelly Johnson led off the eighth with a shallow fly ball that between Marlins left fielder Cole Gillespie and shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria. After the Marlins intentionally walked Ender Inciarte, Gordon Beckham bunted into a fielder’s choice and Freddie Freeman singled.
Tyler Flowers hit a ground ball in front of the plate and relief pitcher David Phelps (3-3) tossed to catcher J.T. Realmuto for the force out at home. Flowers initially was called out at first on a double play, but the call was reversed on a replay challenge by Snitker.
Markakis followed with a line drive at Prado, who got his glove on the ball but couldn’t squeeze it. It rolled into the outfield as Beckham and Freeman scored. The play was initially ruled an error on Prado before the official scorer later changed it to a hit for Markakis.
“I’m not one to make excuses but it was about time we got some breaks tonight,” Braves outfielder Jeff Francoeur said. “Kelly’s ball, and then Nick’s getting tipped off the glove—hopefully we can get some more of those and continue to take advantage.”
Braves right-hander Williams Perez held the Marlins to a run over six innings but his team offered just two runs in support. After the Braves went 1-for-23 with runners in scoring position in the series against the Brewers, they were 5-for-21 in that situation against the Marlins and left 15 runners on base.
The Braves stranded seven runs through the first four innings against left-hander Adam Conley as the Marlins took a 2-0 lead against Perez in the third. Flowers finally broke through with a one-out, RBI single in the fifth that trimmed the deficit to 2-1. The Braves tied the game with back-to-back singles by Markakis and Francoeur.
Marlins reliever Nick Wittgren finished the inning with no more damage but that sudden burst of offense by the Braves awakened the Friday night fireworks crowd. The Braves stranded one base runner in the sixth inning and two in the seventh before Markakis came through in the eighth to ignite the crowd again.
“You’ve got to believe you keep getting guys on like that eventually something is going to click, and it did,” Francoeur said.
