A big hit off the bench and big night from Jazz lead Marlins to win over Braves
%20(4).JPG "Miami Marlins’ Jazz Chisholm Jr. gestures as he runs the bases after hitting a solo home run during the first inning of the team’s baseball game against the Atlanta Braves on Saturday, April 23, 2022, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)")
Don Mattingly recognized Garrett Cooper was scuffling. The Miami Marlins’ first baseman/designated hitter had one hit over his last five starts, a stretch that included 18 plate appearances.
So the manager kept Cooper out of the starting lineup Saturday against the Atlanta Braves.
“You could tell he was out of sorts a little bit,” Mattingly said pregame. “He’s been not really himself. He was able to come out and do some early work. Hopefully that sinks in and we can get him back in there tomorrow.”
Mattingly didn’t have to wait until Sunday. Rather, just seven innings.
Cooper knocked a pinch-hit, go-ahead two-run single in the seventh inning as the Marlins beat the Braves 9-7 in a back-and-forth, nearly four-hour game at Truist Park to even the series against the defending World Series champions. The series finale is Sunday at 1:35 p.m.
Cooper, at the plate with the bases loaded and no outs for catcher Payton Henry, made contact on a Spencer Strider sinker that was below the strike zone and deposited it into shallow right-center field. Brian Anderson and Joey Wendle scored on the play and Jon Berti moved to second, eventually scoring on a Jesus Aguilar fly out to cap a three-run inning that put Miami up for good.
“It was the perfect spot,” Mattingly said. “I thought that inning, with that guy — they have Strider coming in — we had extremely good at-bats.”
It was the final highlight on a night of key offensive plays for the Marlins (6-7) — and on a night they needed it after the pitching staff gave up two separate leads to the Braves (7-9).
Jazz Chisholm Jr. had a career-high four-hit night and was a triple shy of the cycle, hitting a home run on the first pitch of the game, a leadoff double in the fifth and singles in the sixth and ninth. Chisholm also had three RBI, three runs scored and two stolen bases.
Avisail Garcia drove in multiple runs after having just one RBI on the season entering Saturday while also recording multiple hits.
Wendle, Aguilar and Jesus Sanchez all had multi-hit nights as well, while Berti (a late addition to the lineup with Miguel Rojas dealing with flu-like symptoms) and Anderson each walked multiple times.
“We enjoyed it a lot,” Chisholm said. “It felt like a kid’s game again to everybody. It was like when you’re in little league and you’re down and your best hitter comes out and he revives everybody and then the next hitter comes up and gets some hits. It was just like that today.”
Bullpen settles down late
While Elieser Hernandez gave up five runs — four of which came on three home runs — and Shawn Armstrong allowed a go-ahead two-run single to Dansby Swanson in the sixth, the Marlins’ final four relievers combined to throw 3 2/3 shutout innings, retiring 11 consecutive batters to end the game.
Steven Okert replaced Armstrong in the sixth with a runner-on first and hit Ozzie Albies with a pitch to begin his outing.
That was the last Braves batter to get on base, with Okert getting out of the jam on a Matt Olson pop out and Austin Riley strikeout.
Anthony Bass pitched a clean seventh, needing just seven pitches — and a great defensive play by Berti on a Travis d’Arnaud ground ball down the third-base line — to get his three outs.
Cole Sulser got Adam Duvall to groundout and struck out both Alex Dickerson and Swanson in the eighth before Tanner Scott earned the save — his first of the season and second of his MLB career — with an 11-pitch ninth inning, capped by Austin Riley whiffing on a low slider for the game-ending strikeout.
“When our bullpen’s doing well,” Scott said, “we’re cooking. That’s all I can say. We’ve got great arms with great stuff.”
This story was originally published April 23, 2022 at 11:05 PM.
.JPG)