Braves beat Marlins 5-4
Braves vs. Marlins: The Braves and Marlins opened a four-game series tonight…The season series was tied, three games apiece…Each club took two-of-three at the other’s ballpark…The Marlins series win here earlier this month snapped a streak of 13 consecutive winless series against the Braves…They took a series from Atlanta from the first time since winning three-of-four games in Miami to conclude the 2017 season, from September 28-October 1…It was their first series win in Atlanta since September 12-13, 2016, when they took two-of-three games at Turner Field…After tonight’s win, the Braves are now 24-8 (.750) against Miami in Atlanta since Truist Park opened in 2017.
N.L. East Race: With tonight’s win, the Braves increased their lead in the N.L. East over Miami to 4.0 games…Both teams have six games remaining…Atlanta needs one more victory in the final three games of this series to eliminate the Marlins from the N.L. East race…The Braves entered play today with a magic number of four over third-place Philadelphia…They eliminated fourth-place New York with their victory over the Mets yesterday.
Home Sweet Home: The Braves are now 16-8 (.667) at Truist Park this season after tonight’s win…Dating to August 17 of last season, when they started a franchise record 13-game home winning streak, Atlanta has gone 32-12 (.727) here…The Braves are averaging 6.50 runs per game at home in 2020, the most in the majors.
High Waterwark: With tonight’s win, the Braves improved to a season-best 10 games over .500…Last season, the Braves first reached the 10-over mark in their 68 game, when they improved to 39-29 with an 8-7, 11-inning win over Pittsburgh on June 12…Tonight was the Braves’ 54 game of the season…Atlanta’s high watermark last year also came after play on September 21 (36 games, 96-60).
Tyler Matzek: Struck out three and pitched 2.0 scoreless innings of relief after Braves starter Huascar Ynoa made his exit after the third inning…Matzek entered the game with 35 strikeouts and 24.2 innings pitched, which lead the majors and the National League respectively among left-handed relievers…Prior to tonight’s outing, Matzek was tied for the most relief appearances in the majors of more than 1.0 inning.
Huascar Ynoa: Gave up three runs in the first inning but held Miami scoreless over his final two innings before making his exit at the end of the third…Allowed five hits, three runs, and a walk with one strikeout in 3.0 innings during the fifth start of his career tonight, and his first against Miami.
Starting Pitching: With Husacr Ynoa’s start of 3.0 innings pitched, the Braves now have 14 games in which the starter has failed to pitch more than 3.0 frames and 29 games in which the starter did not pitch more than 4.0 innings, both of which are the most such games in the National League…Prior to tonight’s game, Atlanta’s 225.2 innings pitched by their starters were the least in the National League and fourth fewest in the majors…The group entered play with 152 runs allowed, the fifth highest in the National League.
First-Inning Runs: Atlanta recorded a season-high four first-inning runs in today’s 5-4 win over Miami…Prior to tonight’s game, the Braves had only recorded 22 runs in the first inning, eighth fewest in MLB…Atlanta improved to 6-1 when scoring two runs or more in the first…Their only loss after scoring two or more in the first came at the hands of Miami on September 7.