The Atlanta Braves scored two runs on six hits and finished a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins to start the 2015 season. Braves hitters have belted 26 hits in three games and scored 16 runs while walking 11 times.
Braves pitchers held the Marlins to just three runs combined. Here are three observations from Wednesday's 2-0 win:
Miller threw five innings and allowed four hits and two walks while striking out four batters in Wednesday's win over the Marlins. It wasn't the sexiest of starts, but boy was it effective.
Chased from the game after just five innings because Miller's pitch count got to 97, the Braves' bullpen had to work hard (more on that later). But Miller wasn't pulled because he was getting hit, or giving up runs. He had a rough third inning, and was troubled with some bad luck.
After striking out the first two batters in the third, Miller got into trouble. He gave up a seeing-eye single to Dee Gordon, a single to Christian Yelich and then walked Giancarlo Stanton.
Miller got out of the third inning by inducing a ground ball to Michael Morse, but not before tossing 33 pitches in the frame.
After the third, Miller was at 59 pitches and quickly got to 97 by the time he was pulled. He did have some trouble with his slider, but most of the wrinkles came from Marlins hitters who kept fouling off pitches that will on frequent occasions in the future be strikeouts.
What was working for Miller was his fastball, however.
Miller threw 64 fastballs in his first start and was really bringing heat. His two-seam pitch averaged 95.2 MPH and topped out at 97.5. His four-seamer hit 97.8 MPH and averaged 95.7.
As fast as his pitches were, where the heat really came from was how well the Braves' starters did in their first three games.
Between the starts from Julio Teheran, Alex Wood and Miller, the trio has a combined 1.69 ERA. In 16 innings of work, they've allowed just 16 hits and three runs.
Miller also seemingly got over a hump against the Marlins, and Stanton in particular. During his two career starts he was 0-1 with a 6.97 ERA against Miami, and Stanton was 3 for 5 with two home runs and three RBI.
Stanton struck out twice while facing Miller on Wednesday.
"The shutout is the biggest thing though," A.J. Pierzynski told FOX Sports' Jenn Hildreth after the game. "I'm so proud of the way we pitched tonight. We really bared down in some big situations. Shelby got out of a bases-loaded [jam], he had a couple of opportunities where he could have caved and he didn't do it. We pitched our tails off."
Pierzynski was the hero for the Braves with that game-winning blast in the seventh inning. But manager Fredi Gonzalez said to redirect that praise for his catcher, because he's more than just a bat.
"The two-run homer is the thing everyone is going to talk about, but he did a nice job of navigating three, four pitchers through that lineup," said Gonzalez. "That's what he's capable of doing, the veteran. We talked about that a little bit this afternoon before the game. He's a veteran -- 15, 16 years in the big leagues, and he knows how to do it. And he really did that tonight."
Pierzynski went 1 for 2 with two RBI and a walk. The bomb off Koehler put the only runs for the Braves on the board, but the catcher helped his pitchers keep the Marlins from plating anyone.
He said he had to keep Miller aggressive throughout his start, and then Pierzynski had to help the rookie Brandon Cunniff navigate his second appearance of his career before Luis Avilan got the out to hand the game over to Jim Johnson and Jason Grilli.
Pierzynski is going to be counted on this year to help keep a bunch of new faces on the pitching staff ready to throw, and ready to react to anything that happens. That kind of veteran leadership is part of the reason why he's in a Braves uniform.
The big bat doesn't hurt, however.
A week ago if you had guessed that Grilli had two saves in the first three Atlanta games, you would have predicted Craig Kimbrel was hurt. He's not, he's closing games for the Padres.
The Braves haven't missed a beat.
Grilli pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning to earn his second save of the season, and stuck out Marcell Ozuna along the way. He was supposed to the setup man before the Braves traded Kimbrel the day before the season started.
Jim Johnson, who's setting things up for Grilli now, recorded his second hold of the season by working his way through the eighth inning without allowing a run. He allowed a base hit, but struck out two batters.
The duo pitched similarly well on Opening Day when it helped the Braves win their first game. Eighth- and ninth-inning duties seem to be in good hands, which isn't a huge surprise.
What might constitute a jolt is the fact that Cunniff was masterful in the 1 2/3 innings he pitched. Not because Cunniff isn't capable, but after his rookie debut on Tuesday, there could have been a letdown.
Cunniff was handed the ball in the sixth and expected to throw for a while. He faced five batters and sat them all down. He worked efficiently and effectively.
Luis Avilan relieved Cunniff to face the lefty Ichiro Suzuki, who used a non-bunt dribbler to get on base, then forced Dee Gordon to ground out softly.
The Braves would have liked Miller to go longer than five innings, but the bullpen couldn't have cared less. The final four innings of the game were pitched beautifully.
