Marlins miss chance to make some noise in dropping opener to Braves
MIAMI -- With the Heat poised to clinch their fourth straight NBA Finals appearance a few miles away in downtown Miami, the Marlins knew attracting attention would be tough Friday night.
Not for lack of a compelling storyline: The visiting Atlanta Braves came in tied with the Marlins for first in the National League East.
Atlanta had dropped four straight games and didn't arrive in town until 4 a.m. The last time the two clubs met, Miami swept the series with a 23-7 run advantage.
It looked like the Marlins would continue that trend when slugger Giancarlo Stanton rocketed a pitch from right-hander Julio Teheran for a two-run homer to center in the first inning.
Stanton became the fastest player in franchise history to reach 50 RBI with the swing, doing so in his 54th game of the season. Aside from pacing the big leagues with 51 RBI, his 16th home run also kept him atop the NL.
But that would be all from their offense, and right-hander Tom Koehler would surrender the lead in the seventh inning in a 3-2 loss to the Braves at Marlins Park.
Instead of tacking on runs, the next 22 batters were retired by Teheran (5-3), who settled down down and kept his team in the game for the comeback.
"He's throwing four or five different pitches, commanding them all," said Ed Lucas, who went 1 for 3. "He does a really, really good job changing speeds, especially for somebody as young as he is. I think he has a really good feel for pitching.
"When he's throwing that many pitches, and changing up speeds on you, it becomes almost like 10 different pitches. He kind of kept everybody off balance pretty well. He really beared down when he needed to. He bounced back pretty quickly after that first G home run and shut us down the rest of the night."
Koehler (4-5) pitched five shutout frames before Atlanta got on the board in the sixth. Justin Upton led off the inning with a walk and catcher Evan Gattis singled to right. Third baseman Chris Johnson's two-strike RBI single to left drove in Upton.
Teheran collected his second hit of the night in the seventh -- a leadoff double down the first-base line -- that sparked the next rally. He scored on Jason Heyward's RBI triple to left-center. B.J. Upton's go-ahead sacrifice fly to left came on a 0-2 pitch.
More remarkable than the pitcher jumpstarting the offense? Entering Friday, the Braves were 8 for 36 (.222) with runners in scoring position during their four-game skid.
"I think he was having to execute and battle a little bit," manager Mike Redmond said of Koehler. "But that's a tough lineup to get through, and I thought he did a nice job keeping us in the game. Their guy just matched him. He gave up the big hit to Stanton in the first and we really weren't able to get anything going the rest of the game and didn't have a whole lot of chances."
Miami had its chance in the eighth, stranding the tying run at third with two outs. Adeiny Hechavarria led the inning off with an infield single and pinch-hitter Donovan Solano put down a sacrifice bunt. Christian Yelich flied out to deep center off left-hander Luis Avilan, advancing Hechavarria to third. Right-hander David Carpenter induced a groundout to first, breaking Lucas' bat in the process.
Even with Friday's missed opportunities, the beauty of baseball is that there is a tomorrow. It's a long season. The Marlins can even the series with a win Saturday. They are still a MLB-best 20-9 at home, though they have dropped three of their past four.
Saturday's matchup will be broadcast on FOX Sports 1 for a national TV audience. It will serve as a prime chance for them to show outsiders what one of baseball's biggest surprises is all about.
"I think as a team, we're playing good baseball," said Koehler, who struck out five and walked four in seven innings. "We have a chance against a team that's in front of us to come out and play two more games. Obviously, you want to get the first one, because that sets the tone. It didn't happen tonight. I'm pretty confident the boys will come tomorrow and we'll get this thing going again."
You can follow Christina De Nicola on Twitter @CDeNicola13 or email her at cdenicola13@gmail.com.
