Michael Harris II homered and Vaughn Grissom scored from second on an infield single as the Atlanta Braves scored all of their runs in the ninth inning and rallied to beat the host Miami Marlins 3-1 on Sunday afternoon.
Miami led 1-0 entering the ninth, but Tanner Scott (4-5) blew a save chance for the fifth time in 21 tries this year.
On the first pitch of the ninth, Harris homered off Scott’s 99-mph fastball.
With two outs and the score tied 1-1, William Contreras singled up the middle. Marlins second baseman Jon Berti dove to stop the ball, but his throw home was too late to catch Grissom. Scott’s subsequent wild pitch allowed Matt Olson to score from third and Atlanta won its sixth straight game.
The Marlins scored three runs or less for the 15th straight game, the longest such streak since the 1979 Chicago Cubs, according to the Bally Sports broadcast.
Atlanta swept the four-game series, and Kenley Jansen earned three saves, including on Sunday. He has 27 saves in 31 tries this season.
Miami has lost 13 of its past 14 home games.
Neither starting pitcher earned a decision, including Miami’s Braxton Garrett, who tossed six scoreless innings. He gave up five hits and three walks while striking out two.
Braves rookie Bryce Elder struck out 10 batters and allowed one run, three walks and three hits in seven innings. It was his sixth major league appearance and his most effective.
Early on, the Braves ran into stellar Marlins defense. Atlanta had two runners on in the first inning before Marlins first baseman Lewin Diaz fielded an Olson grounder and started a nicely turned double play.
In the second, Eddie Rosario walked and stole second before turning for home on Marcell Ozuna’s single. However, Marlins right fielder Brian Anderson threw him out with a one-hop peg.
With two on in the third, Olson’s shot down the first-base line was turned into an out by Diaz, who made a slick backhand play.
Miami opened the scoring in the fourth when rookie JJ Bleday doubled and scored on Miguel Rojas’ two-out, two-strike single. Both hitters went to the opposite field.
The Braves put two more runners on base in each of the fifth and seventh innings, but Austin Riley — an MVP candidate this year — came up empty each time. He lofted a flyout in the fifth, and his 111-mph line-drive smash in the seventh was snagged by Rojas at shortstop.
In the eighth, Olson singled and reached third before he was stranded on Ozuna’s strikeout on a 3-2 count. Ozuna was frozen on reliever Steven Okert’s 82-mph slider.
–Field Level Media
