Miami Marlins sit through lengthy weather delay, then rally to avoid Atlanta Braves sweep
For just over three hours Thursday, the Miami Marlins and Atlanta Braves sat through a mid-game weather delay at Truist Park as they wrapped up a four-game series.
It only delayed the Marlins’ opportunity to put together an eventual, improbable comeback.
Miami’s offense exploded for five runs in the ninth inning to beat the Braves 5-4, snap a four-game losing streak and avoid a series sweep.
“Weird day all around,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said, “but definitely nice to pull out a win there. Kind of stole a win there.”
The Marlins (13-13) used six hits, including three with two outs, to orchestrate their game-winning rally.
They broke up the shutout in the ninth on a Yuli Gurriel RBI single that scored Luis Arraez, who led off the inning with a single and moved to third on a Jean Segura double.
Avisail Garcia added a two-out, pinch-hit RBI single to cut Miami’s deficit to two runs. Jazz Chisholm Jr. then hit an RBI single of his own to bring Miami within a run before Garrett Cooper gave them the lead with a two-run double that split the gap in right-center field.
Cooper had been 6 for his last 39 with 17 strikeouts over his past 10 games — including 0 for 4 with three strikeouts through his first four trips to the plate on Thursday — before that ninth-inning double.
“I’ve been part of a lot of losses here in the ninth and the eighth [innings],” Cooper said. “To be on the other side of it is something special. We haven’t played too well here in the time I’ve been here, so just to come back down four runs just shows what this offense can do.”
Dylan Floro pitched a scoreless ninth for the save one night after he was on the mound for a four-run implosion in the eighth inning on Wednesday. Floro retired the side on just 12 pitches, striking out pinch-hitters Sam Hilliard and Ehire Adrianza looking to seal the win.
It allowed Miami to salvage something from this series after losing the first three games to the Braves (17-9) 11-0 on Monday, 7-4 on Tuesday and 6-4 on Wednesday.
And, frankly, the comeback seemed all but unlikely after Miami fell apart in the fifth inning, two innings after play resumed with the game tied 0-0.
Starting pitcher Braxton Garrett threw three shutout innings before the weather delay and Matt Barnes tossed a perfect fourth inning before his outing unraveled in his second inning on the mound.
It began with a leadoff walk to Sean Murphy followed by a Vaughn Grissom bunt single and Eddie Rosario single to left field to load the bases with no outs. Barnes then walked Kevin Pillar on four pitches to give the Braves a 1-0 lead and Chadwick Tromp followed with a single to left to push Atlanta’s lead to 2-0.
Ronald Acuna Jr. then hit a groundball to second baseman Arraez, who flipped the ball to shortstop Garrett Hampson looking for the force out (and a potential double play) but Hampson missed the catch. Everyone’s safe. Braves are up 3-0. Barnes’ outing is done.
Steven Okert then entered for Barnes and got Matt Olson to ground into a force out but allowed another run to score to cap scoring in the Braves’ four-run inning.
Miami, meanwhile, had its leadoff hitter reach base in each of the first five innings but came away empty on all of those opportunities.
The Marlins are now 3-8 this season against the New York Mets and Braves. They are 10-5 against the other five teams they have played, going 2-1 against each of the Minnesota Twins, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, San Francisco Giants and Cleveland Guardians.
Two other stats of note still hold after Thursday, too: Miami is 7-0 in one-run games and a perfect 13-0 when holding opponents to four runs or fewer.
Up next
The Marlins return to Miami for a six-game homestand. It starts with a weekend series against the Chicago Cubs before playing three more against the Braves starting Tuesday.
