MIAMI — When the Braves took the lead with two runs in the second inning Saturday against the Marlins, only to see starter Bud Norris gave up three in the bottom of the inning, it was shaping up as a potential repeat of Monday’s wrenching road-trip opener at Washington.
But this time, Norris managed to stem the tide, and the Braves’ offense and bullpen came up big in a 6-4 win.
At Nationals Park on Monday, Norris was staked to a 2-0 lead in the first inning and gave up three runs in the bottom of the inning. The Braves reclaimed the lead with two runs in the second inning, but then Norris gave up the tying run an inning later and the go-ahead run in the fifth inning of a 6-4 loss.
But when the Braves gave him a second lead Saturday — a three-run margin, at that — Norris was able to protect most of it. He retired eight consecutive Marlins before Justin Bour’s one-out solo homer in the sixth trimmed the lead to 6-4, and the Braves bullpen soon took over and shut out the Marlins the rest of the way.
“I felt a lot more comfortable after the second (inning),” said Norris (1-2), credited with the win after allowing four runs, seven hits and three walks in 5 1/3 innings, with five strikeouts. “I’m just trying to find my mechanics, but made some pitches from there. Roger (McDowell) found some things they want me to work on, so that definitely helps out when you have some advice from pitching coaches and so forth.
“It’s another big win for us, and we want to keep this thing moving. We have another chance tomorrow. Hopefully we get a sweep.”
After the Bour homer, Norris gave up infield single and a walk before being replaced by left-hander Hunter Cervenka, who came through with two big strikeouts, fanning pinch-hitter Chris Johnson (the ex-Brave) and Dee Gordon with two in scoring position.
Braves right-hander Chris Withrow entered with a runner on and one out in the seventh to face Stanton, striking him out before Martin Prado flied out.
“We’ve got a lot of good pros in here,” Norris said. “We’ve got some veterans and we’ve got some guys that can do the job. Everybody just kind of picked up the next guy, just kind of moved the chain on the offensive end, and the bullpen – it was nice to give the ball to those guys. Hunter came in and picked me up big time. So did Withrow.”
