The wait was worth it for the Braves – and their fans – on Sunday at Truist Park.
Atlanta (84-51) poured it on after a rain delay and swept the Marlins with a 7-1 victory.
With the win, the Braves pulled within a game of the Mets (85-50) for the National League East lead. The Braves have won five in a row and 20 of 25 to move a season-high 33 games above .500.
The Braves led 2-0 before the game was delayed in the fifth inning. They added two runs in the sixth and three in the eighth to secure the three-game sweep.
The Marlins scored their lone run in the top of the eighth inning, when Jerar Encarnacion scored on an RBI single by Joey Wendle.
Four Braves walked in the bottom of the eighth, allowing them to blow open the game.
Braves starter Max Fried turned in an efficient outing Sunday, allowing no hits and no runs in five innings. Fried threw 66 pitches and struck out six. He walked one.
“I mean, this Marlins team just kind of put up really good at-bats against me,” Fried said. “They grind at-bats, they work the count, they hit the ball to all fields and, you know, they steal bases and put pressure on you, and if you’re not executing pitches, things can get out of hand really, really quick. So just coming into it knowing that I have to really be sharp and execute my pitches and change speeds and just kind of reemphasize all that stuff.”
The Braves scored their first run in the bottom of the third.
Rookie Michael Harris went 3-for-4 with two RBIs, and designated hitter Ronald Acuna also had two RBIs.
Marcell Ozuna hit his 21st home run, an opposite-field solo shot to right-center, to make it 2-0 in the fourth.
“He’s had a good weekend, you know, to kind of finally get him back in there,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Ozuna. “I think, you know, he went to work after everything. Didn’t say anything, just worked hard, was very positive. And I’m glad that he could come in and contribute like that because we could get that big sucker going, man, and that would be a huge thing, too.”
After a nearly two-hour delay, the Braves did not cool off. Atlanta added two runs in the sixth when Matt Olson walked, advanced to third on a single by Travis d’Arnaud and a fielding error by Marlins right fielder Brian Anderson and scored on Harris’ single. D’Arnaud scored on a wild pitch by Jeff Brigham.
The Marlins received their first hit when Miguel Rojas lined a single off Jesse Chavez with two outs in the sixth and scored their lone run, trimming the lead to 4-1, off Collin McHugh in the eighth on Wendle’s single.
The Braves received a solid outing from their bullpen, which gave up one run.
Atlanta now begins a West Coast road trip. The Braves are scheduled to face the Athletics in a two-game series that begins Tuesday night.
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