Thanks to another big night at the plate (including huge hits from Dominic Smith and Austin Riley) for Atlanta’s lineup and a dominant outing from Chris Sale, the Atlanta Braves were able to take firm control of the series against the Miami Marlins as they sauntered to a comfortable 9-1 victory.
In the preview for this one, I expressed a tiny bit of concern at the fact that the Braves had not given Chris Sale a ton of run support over his previous two starts. All of that concern was washed away like the waves on South Beach nearby as Atlanta absolutely tagged Janson Junk in this one. I did mention that there was a possibility that the Braves were catching Junk at a good time and as it turned out, Atlanta was indeed able to extend Junk’s misery.
The Marlins actually did go ahead first in this one with a sacrifice fly from Heriberto Hernández plating Xavier Edwards but that ended up being as good as it got for Miami as the Braves eventually responded at the first time of asking. Once the second inning rolled around, Austin Riley came up to the plate with two on and one out and he got a curveball that he liked from Junk that was right in the zone and begging to be crushed. Riley didn’t miss it and hit it onto the grassy batters’ eye in center field for a big three-run shot that put the Braves ahead by two.
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The Marlins nearly responded in their half of the second inning after Leo Jiménez got a hold of a four-seamer and sent it flying. Had Jiménez hit it a bit harder, it may have gone for a dinger. Instead, Michael harris II was eventually able to get under it and make a spectacular jumping catch in order to prevent it from finding the grass — either in the outfield or past the fence.
From that point forward, Chris Sale got into the ol’ rocking chair and the Marlins couldn’t do much to him after that. Sale ended up going seven innings and to tell you how things ended up going for Sale in this one, he left the game having retired 10 straight batters. The line for Sale finished at seven innings pitched with one run allowed on four hits while striking out eight batters. This was vintage Chris Sale.
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While Sale was cruising, the Braves delivered the finishing blow to both Junk and Miami’s chances of realistically making a comeback in this one. The sixth inning proved to be eventful as Atlanta came out swinging against Junk and didn’t let up until they had run him from the game. The first five batters of the sixth inning all reached base, which included Ronald Acuña Jr. going from first-to-third on a seeing eye single from Michael Harris II, Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies both delivering back-to-back RBI singles and then Dominic Smith capping off the rally by winning a 12-pitch battle in emphatic fashion.
Once again, the curveball got Junk in trouble and Smith was able take it and drive it clear over the fence in right-center for a three-run dagger.
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Although reliever Tyler Phillips retired the side in order following the rally, the damage had been done and the Braves were seven runs clear of the Miami at this point in the contest. From the big Dominic Smith moment onwards, it was only a matter of either adding on or simply making sure that the Marlins didn’t come any closer. They were able to add on in the eighth inning thanks to another big knock from Dominic Smith. This time, he didn’t have to hit it over the fence in order to take a round trip across the basepaths.
Smith got another hanging curveball (this time from Phillips) and drove it out towards right-center field. While trying to field the fly ball, Esteury Ruiz and Owen Caissie collided (with Caissie getting the worst of it after he took Ruiz’s elbow to the face). Dominic Smith made it into third base pretty easily but ended up getting to hustle all the way home after after Ruiz’s throw from right field went awry. Just like that, Dominic Smith had himself a little league homer and the laugher continued for the Braves.
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After Victor Mederos pitched a scoreless inning for the Braves, Miami waved the white flag by sending third baseman Javier Sanoja out there to soft toss. Sanoja pitched a scoreless inning but that was the tiniest amount of solace for the Marlins in this one as Mederos closed it out for Atlanta and the Braves ended up winning in dominant fashion.
I mentioned in the series preview that the Braves should’ve been going into this series thinking about a split being the bare minimum. Even though it’s a bit of a cliché to say that the road team should always be satisfied with a spilt of a four-game series on the road, the Braves definitely should’ve had their sights set a bit higher. They’ll now have an opportunity to go for that series win tomorrow evening as we’ll have a big-name pitching matchup with Spencer Strider going pitch-for-pitch against Sandy Alcantara starting at 6:40 p.m. ET.
Vote for the Braves Player of the Game, May 20
It was a fun night for the Braves in Miami with Atlanta winning 9-1 and now in the position for another series victory tomorrow.
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