Braves vs. Marlins Series Recap (8/9 – 8/11)

Game 1: Braves 5, Marlins 0

Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

Brandon Beachy made his 3rd start since rejoining the Atlanta rotation, and it was by far the best one.  Beachy threw 99 pitches (67 for strikes) over 8 strong innings to lead the Braves to their 14th straight victory, 5-0.  Beachy only allowed 3 hits, walked only 1 and struck out 6.  I know it is only the Marlins terrible offense, but this is a huge positive step forward for Brandon.  The Braves’ bats put up 4 quick runs in the first and just cruised from there, allowing Beachy to relax and continue to be aggressive with a big lead.  Justin Upton and Chris Johnson both homered in the 4-run first to stake the Braves to a lead they would never relinquish.  Brian McCann added a solo shot in the 3rd for the final margin.

Game 2: Marlins 1, Braves 0

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A wild pitch/passed ball with a man on third in the 9th inning ended the Braves 14 game winning streak with a 1-0 loss to the Marlins.  You truly can’t predict baseball.  Alex Wood pitched yet another brilliant game, only allowing 2 hits over his 6 innings with just 1 walk and 7 punch-outs.  Its getting harder and harder to think about moving him out of the rotation when Maholm comes back.  Wood would have gone longer, but he threw a couple of simulated innings inside during the rain delay and had to come out after 87 in-game pitches.  The Braves offense, which had been on fire during their winning streak finally decided to take a night off.  They could only push across 3 hits, one of which should have probably been an error.  It didn’t help that Chris Johnson was ejected in the 1st inning after he looked at 3 straight balls that were called strikes by everyone’s favorite umpire, Jim Joyce, and was promptly tossed out for arguing about them.  It really hurt when we had the tying run on the bases in the 9th but had Paul Janish at the plate instead of Chris Johnson.  Oddly enough, Janish also struck out looking on some questionable calls.  Jordan Walden had to leave the game in the 9th after being hit on his pitching had by a line drive.  X-rays were negative for any kind of break, so he will probably just take a few days off and be fine.

Game 3: Braves 9, Marlins 4

Credit: Daniel Shirey-USA TODAY Sports

The offense was back after its one day absence to again bruise the Marlins pitching staff.  Jason Heyward had 4 hits to pace the attack and Evan Gattis and Freddie Freeman both had 2 extra-base hits to help the Braves get back to their winning ways.  Mike Minor wasn’t his usual sharp self giving up 4 runs in his 7 innings of work, but the offense gave him a boost to get his 12th win of the season.  The Braves also welcomed back Jordan Schafer from his long DL stint with a start in center-field.  Jordan went 1-4 with a run and his 10th stolen base.  Unfortunately Justin Upton left the game in the 5th after trying to leg out a bunt and having some cramping in his hamstring.  Freddie Gonzalez said it happened to J-Up once already this season and he didn’t expect it to be a big deal.  Brian McCann was also held out of his second straight game with some knee soreness.

Series Stats Recap:

The Good

• Heyward – 6/12, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 1 2B, BB, K
• Freeman – 4/10, 3 runs, 3 RBI, 3 BB, 0 Ks, 1 2B, 1 HR
• McCann – 2/5, 2 runs, HR, 1 RBI
• Gattis – 4/8, 2 runs, 1 RBI, 2 2B, 1 BB, 1 K
• Chris Johnson – 2/9, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 1 2B, 4 Ks, 1 ejection

The Bad:

• Justin Upton – 1/11, HR, 0 BB, 1 K
• BJ Upton – 0/8, 1 run, 1 RBI, 5 Ks
• Uggla – 0/7, 1 RBI, 2 BB, 3 Ks
• Simmons – 1/9, 2 BB, 1 K