The Atlanta Braves edged out a hard-fought 6-4 victory over the Miami Marlins on Sunday afternoon. The loss concluded a three-game home series in which Miami collected two victories. Miami’s loss to Atlanta keeps them with a firm grip of 4th place in the NL East, as Atlanta sits atop them at 3rd place.
The Braves elected to start left-handed pitcher Drew Smyly, who happened to be celebrating his 32nd birthday. Smyly has been quite unremarkable this season, with a 5.82 ERA in eight games. In five innings of work on Sunday, Smyly gave up two runs on six hits. After tossing an impressive six strikeouts, Smyly was eventually replaced by five other relievers before right-hander Will Smith closed out the game and earned the save.
Meanwhile, Miami elected to start pitcher Pablo Lopez, who earned his fourth loss of the season this Sunday. Lopez allowed four runs on six total hits throughout his three-inning outing. The fourth-year pitcher looks to shake off this performance and continue to build off of his impressive year in 2020.
Center Fielder Starling Marte put together one of his finest performances of the year on Sunday. The Dominican outfielder collected two hits and three RBI’s in four plate appearances. Marte also stole two bases, only to be left stranded both times. Catcher Jorge Alfaro also had a multi-hit game, a positive sign after missing time due to an elbow injury.
The Marlins will now travel to St. Louis to take on the Cardinals on Monday. The Marlins expect to give their No. 7 prospect Braxton Garrett his second start of the season. Garrett suffered a tough outing in his first big league start, giving up two runs and five hits in four innings of work.
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