An early run was enough for the Marlins to end their frustrations against the Braves.
Dan Straily combined with three relievers on a three-hitter as the Miami Marlins snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Atlanta Braves with a 1-0 victory on Friday night.
Straily (5-6) allowed three hits, walked one and struck out four in six innings for his first win since June 20.
He retired the final nine batters he faced after Freddie Freeman’s leadoff single in the third — Atlanta’s final hit of the game.
“These are the kind of wins that when you look back at the season, I’m not going to say turning point by any means, but everyone talks about [how] good teams win the 1-0 ballgames,” Straily said.
“We took a first-place team and beat them 1-0. It shows you we are capable,” he said.
“We just have to believe in ourselves and keep playing as hard as possible,” he added.
Dayron Guerrero and Drew Steckenrider worked the seventh and eighth, while Adam Conley pitched a perfect ninth for his first save in his second opportunity.
Atlanta pinch hitter Adam Duvall hit a deep drive to start the ninth that right fielder Rafael Ortega ran down.
Conley retired Freeman and Nick Markakis to end it.
“You hit a roadblock sometimes in baseball,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s why we play 162.”
“They battled to the end. You’ve got to tip your hats to Straily and the ’pen over there for pitching well,” he added.
The win was Miami’s first over Atlanta since July 24. The first-placed Braves maintained a three-game lead over the Philadelphia Phillies in the National League East.
“It’s really satisfying, especially the way we got it,” Marlins third baseman Brian Anderson said. “Our pitching did an incredible job today, just up and down. We got the timely hit that we’ve been waiting for.”
Mike Foltynewicz (10-8) retired the first 11 Marlins hitters until Anderson’s double to left-center in the fourth.
Derek Dietrich followed with an RBI single that gave Miami their only run.
“Obviously that hit there, you don’t look at a 1-0,” Miami manager Don Mattingly said.
“Guys did a nice job coming out of the ’pen and got some big outs for us,” Mattingly added.
Foltynewicz allowed two hits, walked two and struck out eight in six innings.
The Marlins also got only three hits in the game.
“Everything was kind of working,” Foltynewicz said.
“The slider was backing up in the last few innings, but other than that the fastball command was there, the life and off-speed,” he said.
“I’m still a work in progress,” he added.
The Braves threatened in the second, when Straily allowed a one-out double to Johan Camargo and walked Ozzie Albies. Straily induced an inning-ending double-play grounder from Tyler Flowers.
RSS