Braves vs Marlins Series Wrap

Braves country, put it this way, we may not have won the series versus Miami, but at least we didn’t get swept. And we can thank Dansby Swanson for that! The main thing that led the Braves to lose three out of four of this series was the bullpen. The bullpen gave up multiple late inning runs in every game versus Miami, and that cost the Braves big time.

Game One: Huascar Ynoa vs. Sandy Alcantara, Braves lost 5-3

Ynoa pitched very well. He went six innings, only giving up one run on three hits. He had one walk and struck out ten. The Braves actually scored before Miami on a RBI single in the top of the first that scored Ronald Acuña Jr. The Braves scored two more runs after that on sac-flies by Ozzie Albies. The bullpen was not at its best in this game. A.J. Minter and Nate Jones gave up two runs in the top of the eighth inning, and then Jacob Webb blew the game and the save in the top of the tenth inning, giving up a single and a double. Those two runs led the Marlins to win.

Game Two: Max Fried vs. Pablo López, Braves lost 14-8

The Braves started this game off with some excitement. Freddie Freeman doubled, and then Marcell Ozuna hit a two run blast. Note that Brian Snitker changed the lineup to where Freeman was hitting second, Ozuna batting third, and Ozzie Albies batting fifth. Speaking of Albies, he got in the home run fun too, hitting a solo shot in the first to give the Braves a grand total of three runs scored in the first inning. However, that lead did not last long. Brain Anderson led off the top of the second inning with a solo home run for the Marlins, and they scored two more after that. Fried is really having a hard time controlling the strike zone and commanding his pitches. He pitched a total of four innings. He gave up nine hits, eight runs, and two walks. He only had three strikeouts. The Braves had to go to their shaky bullpen for the rest of the game, and they had a rough outing once again. The Marlins ended up scoring a grand total of fourteen runs. Fourteen. And do you know who scored/drove in most of those runs? That would be former Brave, Adam Duvall. He had four hits, scored four times, and had seven RBI’s. Oh, and he hit two home runs. The Braves did score two more on an error by Duvall in the bottom of the ninth, bringing their run total to eight. Overall, this game was a stinging blow to the Braves and their fans. It was almost too hard to watch.

Game Three: Charlie Morton vs. Nick Neidert, Braves lost 6-5

Another extra innings game, another Braves loss. Morton wasn’t at his best today. He went six innings, with seven hits and allowed five runs. Ronald Acuña Jr. hit two more home runs today. One in the third inning and the other in the seventh. Both were two run shots. With his two run homer in the seventh, the Braves tied the game. The game remained tied and went into extras. In the top of the tenth inning, the Marlins scored on a double by Jesus Aguilar. They held onto their late inning lead and won. Acuña gave the Braves multiple chances to score, but the bullpen could not keep the Marlins bats inactive, so it didn’t matter.

Game Four: Ian Anderson vs. Trevor Rodgers, Braves win 7-6

If you were looking for a close nail-biter for game four of this series, you got it. This was a good game, with an even better end result. The Marlins once again scored early on the Braves. They got a three-nothing lead on the Braves, all runs were scored off of Ian Anderson. The Braves made it a 3-2 game in the bottom of the fifth inning on another home run by (can ya guess?) Ronald Acuña Jr. This kid has continued to show huge amounts of consistent power in this series against the Marlins. And then, in the bottom of the sixth inning, with two Braves on base, two out, Pablo Sandoval is at-bat. And he does it again! He crushes a three-run homer to give the Braves a 5-3 lead. Man this guy has serious power off the bench. He is turning into a huge asset for the Braves! I think if Austin Riley can’t improve offensively, the Braves will let Sandoval play more games at third base since that is his natural position. Starling Marte hit a solo home run for the Marlins in the top of the seventh to make it a 5-4 game.

Top of the ninth inning, A.J. Minter is on the mound for the Braves to try and earn the save and a Braves win. Instead of sealing the win, he blew the save. He allowed to Marlins to cross the plate. One on a double by Adam Duvall and the other on a single by Garrett Cooper that scored Duvall. Man, the Braves bullpen is having serious problems keeping a lead. That has to change if the Braves want to win games and ultimately clinch the division and be successful in the postseason.

Bottom of the ninth inning. Dylan Floro is on the mound for the Marlins to try and get them into extras so they can have a shot at winning the game and sweeping the Braves. The Braves had other ideas. Ender Inciarte leads off the inning with a single. Acuña does the same thing, and Ender moves to second. No body is out, and Freddie Freeman is up to hit. He ends up walking to load the bases, still there is no one out. Travis d’Arnaud strikes out and then my man, Ozzie Albies, gets walked with the bases loaded and the tying run comes in to score. And then…Dansby Swanson is up to bat. On the first pitch he sees, he lines it into left field, the Braves walk it off and win!!

Hopefully the walk-off will give the Braves more momentum going into the series with the Chicago Cubs and they will start to liven up more and win more ball games.