As the Braves play with a chip on their shoulders and prove their doubters wrong, they continue to receive timely hits from the likes of Brandon Phillips, who delivered his second walk-off hit in less than 24 hours to cap Sunday afternoon’s 5-4 win over the Marlins at SunTrust Park.
Atlanta has recorded a Major League-best 11 last at-bat wins this season. These victories account for more than a third of the club’s season victory total (31).
“I’ve been kind of talking about these guys for a long time,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “You keep the game manageable, they have a knack of figuring out a way to win. If we can stay in the game, I like our chances.”
Johan Camargo recorded a one-out infield single, then advanced to third base on Ender Inciarte’s single to left-center field. With runners at the corners and one out, the Marlins brought Marcell Ozuna in from left field to serve as an extra infielder. But Phillips still found a hole as he bounced his game winner through the middle of the infield.
“It was one of those balls kind of up the middle,” Marlins shortstop JT Riddle said. “I should have dove for it.”
After surrendering just one hit in wildly effective fashion through the first six innings, Marlins starter Jose Urena saw the Braves open a four-run seventh with consecutive singles. Nick Markakis’ two-run single off Nick Wittgren gave Atlanta a lead until Marcell Ozuna drilled a game-tying, two-run homer off Jose Ramirez in the eighth.
The Marlins had multi-run leads slip away in late innings on Saturday and Sunday, resulting in dropping two of three in the series.
“You feel like you had chances to win both games,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “Yesterday, we’re up four and weren’t able to hold on. Today, Jose pitches really good. We had chances to tack on runs, [but] we weren’t able to do that.”
Dansby Swanson raced to second base on Rio Ruiz’s sacrifice fly in the sixth inning and scored when Camargo followed with an RBI single. Camargo provided similar hustle in the ninth when he advanced from first to third base on Inciarte’s single to left-center field. His aggressive decision was influenced by his realization Ozuna was playing a little deeper and closer to the left-field line to protect against a potential double.
“In those situations, you’re always looking at the positioning of the fielders to know where they’re at,” Camargo said through an interpreter. “So I noticed they were playing a little further back. So I knew I had my opportunity to go for third base.”
Foltynewicz recorded a strike on 14 of 17 pitches through the first two innings before issuing a four-pitch walk to Riddle open the third. Riddle advanced to third base on a Dee Gordon single that put runners at the corners with one out. But when Gordon advanced toward second base on the back end of a Giancarlo Stanton strikeout, Phillips cut off catcher Kurt Suzuki’s throw and fired back to the plate to begin a rundown that retired Riddle.
“That [play] gets [messed] up a lot [defensively] no matter how much you work on it,” Snitker said. “You work on it a lot during Spring Training. It’s never game speed. That was about as good as it gets right there.”
Ozuna was 0-for-9 in the series before his two-run homer tied the game at 4 in the eighth. Statcast™ projected the drive at 395 feet with an exit velocity of 103.1 mph. The home run was his team-leading 18th of the season, as Miami’s left fielder continues to have an All-Star-worthy first half.
Urena hit back-to-back batters in Matt Adams and Suzuki with two-strike fastballs, exchanging some words with the former. Urena also hit Markakis with a two-strike slider in the third inning. Nothing escalated.
“We’re not just going to go out to hit people to be hitting people,” Mattingly said. “Those aren’t situations that we really want to keep putting runners on. I know it may have looked funny, but they’re pretty obvious that he’s not trying to hit anybody there.”
R.A. Dickey takes the mound at 6:35 p.m. CT on Monday as the Braves open a four-game series against the Giants at SunTrust Park. Dickey has a 4.15 ERA there, but the Braves have won his last three home starts. Thunder Radio will bring you the broadcast as part of the Atlanta Braves Radio Network.
