Miami Marlins' Dan Straily continues to gain momentum since returning from injury

Dan Straily started the season late due to injury.

He hopes more performances like he has lately will lead him to a strong finish.

Straily pitched seven scoreless innings and gave up only three hits, to help the Marlins to a 2-0 shutout of the host Atlanta Braves on Friday at SunTrust Park.

It was the longest of Straily’s four outings so far this season since returning from a left forearm strain that delayed his season debut until April 30.

The Marlins (17-27) have won all four of those outings, and were victorious for the third time in four games.

Straily retired the final 11 batters he faced.

"You always want to finish strong and get every single guy out," Straily said. "The mindset never changes. You’re always just trying to get every single hitter out."

It was one of Straily’s best outings since joining the Marlins last season and the furthest he pitched into a game without giving up a run during that span.

"It's nice to see, for us and for his confidence, as well," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "I know he was excited about the year, coming into Spring Training. He was a guy fighting for that No. 1 spot. Obviously, it didn't go great out of spring. But he's bouncing back and throwing the ball well for us."

Straily faced the Braves a week ago in Miami and gave up three runs (two earned) in five innings while throwing 102 pitches.

Straily threw 98 pitches and was efficient getting five ground ball outs and four fly ball outs.

"I really liked my game plan then, but I didn’t execute as well," Straily said. "That was the whole thing was to execute. J.T. [Realmuto] kept me in my lane and I kept it going."

Straily struck out six and walked three (one intentional) in his first start in which he threw seven shutout innings since July 17, 2016 while still pitching for the Reds.

“He definitely showed how to work deep into a game and you do that by attacking the strike zone and minimizing pitch count,” Brad Ziegler said. “I know strikeouts are very popular and not that there’s never a time for it, by any means, but if you’re punching out six, seven, eight guys it’s hard to get into the seventh inning of a game. Sometimes it’s hard to even get to six because you’re running your count a lot higher. Tonight he’d get two strikes on him and keep coming after him in the zone.”

Straily's only real predicament came in the bottom of the fourth inning when he walked Freddie Freeman and gave up a double to Nick Markakis. But even with the infield playing deep to possibly concede a run, Straily induced a pop-up by Tyler Flowers. After walking Ender Inciarte intentionally, Straily struck out Jose Bautista and got Johan Camargo to fly out to right field to end the inning.

"That inning was huge for him, for obvious reasons, but just for the whole night, to be able to keep his pitch-count down, and be able to execute pitches early in the count to get ahead of guys and be able to put the ball where he wants with two strikes," Realmuto said. "That team is really good with two strikes. A lot of people don't see the stats, but even when you get to two strikes, those guys are dangerous hitters. He did a great job throughout the counts to hit his spots and make his pitches."

The Marlins scored both runs to back up Straily in the sixth when they strung three consecutive hits off Braves starter Matt Wisler. After Martin Prado singled, Realmuto tripled and Starlin Castro followed with a double.

Kyle Barraclough and Ziegler shut the door out of the bullpen with a pair of scoreless innings. Ziegler picked up his eighth save of the season.

The Marlins made solid plays defensively throughout the game with Lewis Brinson tracking down multiple fly balls near the warning track. Brian Anderson recorded another outfield assist in the second inning when he threw on target to Miguel Rojas at short, who made a nice play keeping his glove on Camargo as he slid off the bag at second trying to extend a single to a double. Camargo was originally ruled safe on the play, but the call was overturned after the Marlins challenged.

This story was originally published May 18, 2018 at 10:14 PM with the headline "Miami Marlins' Dan Straily continues to gain momentum since returning from injury."