Medlen Shaky, Braves Romp Marlins

Daniel Shirey- USA Today Sports

After sweeping the Arizona Diamondbacks, the Braves continued their winning ways by taking care of business tonight against the hot, yes I said hot, Miami Marlins by a final count of 11-3.

It wasn’t the greatest pitching performance tonight for Braves’ starter Kris Medlen, but it was enough to get the job done and notch his sixth victory of the year.

Medlen was able to go six innings and allow nine hits, three runs (all earned), while walking two and only striking out a batter. His stuff tonight wasn’t the best, but being the tough pitcher that Medlen is, he was able to battle through and give the Braves six innings of baseball.

B.J Upton has been listed day-to-day with forearm spasms in his arm after striking out in his first at bat of the game. The good news is that the Braves have been blessed with a deep bench (and they’re playing the Marlins) so that it should allow Upton to rest his arm and recover fully so that he can get back to patrolling centerfield.

Chris Johnson had another great night at the dish tonight for the Braves. Johnson went 3-for-5 and knocked home the go-ahead RBIs in the bottom of the sixth inning. Johnson has been a consistent hitter and, in my opinion, has started to relax at the plate knowing that he may not play the next day. He’s now batting .330 on the year and made some nice plays in the field tonight.

The Braves tonight were 8-22 (.363 avg.) with runners in scoring position tonight. For a team that has struggled mightily in that category, it was an especially a good night to fix these problems as the Marlins throw out a ton of inexperienced pitchers.

Not only were they 8-22 with RISP, they drove in those runs without using the home run ball. It’s something that is a rare feat for this team as they are a team that has a ton of power in their lineup. However, tonight they showed that they can beat you without hitting a home run.