Marcell Ozuna hit a tie-breaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, and the Braves came back to win 5-3 against the Miami Marlins on Friday night.
The Braves, leading the NL wild-card race, have won six of their last seven games.
Aaron Bummer (3-2) got the win in relief of rookie Spencer Schwellenbach, and Joe Jiménez picked up his third save of the season.
Orlando Arcia went 2 for 3 with two RBIs and a home run, his fourth in six games. He has a career-high 13-game hitting streak. “It is good to fight back and get an emotional win like that,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker.
The Braves had a six-game losing streak before this recent success, and Snitker mentioned that staying balanced has been crucial in managing injuries to key players like Spencer Strider, Ronald Acuña Jr., and Ozzie Albies.
“I’ve always admired that with this group — how much fun they have competing,” Snitker said. “Everything about this. They love doing the work, coming early, doing things, and they really like it when the umpire says ‘play ball.’ Through good, bad, ugly, whatever it is.”
The Braves were down 3-2 entering the eighth inning but scored three runs against Miami’s Calvin Faucher (2-3). New addition Jorge Soler hit a game-tying RBI single, bringing in Jarred Kelenic. Austin Riley doubled, advancing pinch runner Ramón Laureano to third base, and Ozuna drove him in with a hit to the warning track. Arcia’s RBI single added an extra run.
Marlins starter Valente Bellozo, who was called up earlier in the day from Triple-A Jacksonville, allowed two runs in five innings. He gave up just two hits and had five strikeouts in his third career start.
Jake Burger and Jonah Bride hit home runs, and Xavier Edwards was 2 for 4 with two steals and a run for the Marlins, who have lost all five games they’ve played at Truist Park this season.
“When you don’t add on runs, that lineup has the ability to come back,” said Marlins manager Skip Schumaker.
Schwellenbach made his sixth quality start of the season. The 24-year-old right-hander allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings while striking out 10 and walking none.
“The early runs didn’t scare me away from the strike zone, and I’m proud of myself for that,” Schwellenbach said. “Sometimes you start nibbling the second time through the order, and I didn’t do that.”
