ATLANTA (AP) -- The Marlins are encouraged by young starting pitchers such as Jose Fernandez, Jacob Turner and Henderson Alvarez.
Manager Mike Redmond says he also trusts the relief work of closer Steve Cishek and setup men Mike Dunn and Chad Qualls.
Now Redmond says Miami must develop a better bridge from the starters to the late innings.
Three relievers gave up five runs as the Marlins blew an early three-run lead and fell to the Atlanta Braves 9-4 on Sunday.
Dan Jennings (1-3) gave up two runs without recording an out in the Braves' four-run seventh. A.J. Ramos also was charged with two runs in the seventh, and Steve Ames allowed a run in the eighth.
"That seventh inning is an inning, down in the bullpen we're looking for one of those guys, those younger guys to step up and fill that role, whether it be (Jennings) or A.J. Ramos. We need somebody to fill that inning," Redmond said.
"We have Dunn and Qualls for the eighth and Cishek for the ninth. We need one of those guys to step up, especially in a tie game, a pressure situation," he said.
Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer off Alvarez in the fifth and Jason Heyward had four hits as the Braves took two of three in the series.
The Marlins have lost seven of eight. Alvarez gave up four runs on seven hits and a walk in six innings.
"I thought Henderson was good," Redmond said. "We came out and scored those runs early and we couldn't shut them down. ... That's a tough lineup to plow through."
The game was tied at 4 when pinch-hitter Joey Terdoslavich replaced Minor in the seventh. Jennings walked Terdoslavich to start the Braves' four-run inning.
Heyward singled and Terdoslavich scored the go-ahead run on a line drive to left field by B.J. Upton off Ramos. Following Ramos' intentional walk to Freeman, Gattis hit a run-scoring double and Chris Johnson drove in two runs with a double over Giancarlo Stanton in right field. Stanton appeared to lose the ball in the sun.
"That seventh inning, we just couldn't stop them," Redmond said. "We didn't execute some pitches and they've got a lot of weapons over there. And as you can see, they have the ability to do some damage with the middle of their order and we couldn't stop them. Couldn't get them out."
Atlanta's 14-game winning streak ended in a 1-0 loss to the Marlins on Saturday night.
B.J. Upton drove in the go-ahead run in the seventh with a sacrifice fly. Chris Johnson added a two-run double in the four-run inning that broke open a tie game.
Evan Gattis had three hits, including his run-scoring double in the seventh.
Mike Minor (12-5) gave up four runs on six hits and one walk in seven innings.
The Braves trailed 3-0 in the second inning before taking their 38th comeback win of the season, the most in the majors.
Braves outfielder Justin Upton left the game in the fifth inning with cramping in his left hamstring.
Justin Upton left the game after running to first base on an unsuccessful sacrifice bunt attempt in the fifth inning. Marlins catcher Koyie Hill threw out Minor, who was not expecting the bunt, at third base as Upton reached on the fielder's choice.
B.J. Upton replaced his brother as a pinch-runner. Freeman followed with his three-run homer that gave Atlanta a 4-3 lead.
Alvarez escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth. Freeman led off with a double and moved to third on an infield hit by Gattis. With one out, Dan Uggla walked to load the bases, but the inning ended on Andrelton Simmons' fly ball to shallow right field and Jordan Schafer's groundout.
The Marlins took a 3-0 lead in the second. Ed Lucas doubled and scored on a single by Jake Marisnick. Hill singled before Alvarez lined a two-run double over Justin Upton in left field.
NOTES: Marisnick ended an 0-for-13 streak with his second-inning single. ... The four runs allowed by Alvarez tied a career high. ... Marlins LF Christian Yelich's 10-game hitting streak ended. ... The Braves continue their nine-game homestand on Monday night when RHP Julio Teheran faces Philadelphia LHP Cole Hamels. The Marlins open a series at Kansas City with RHP Tom Koehler facing Royals RHP Wade Davis.
