Three Cuts: Braves blanked by Eovaldi, Marlins

Published Sep. 1, 2013 8:48 p.m. ET

foxsports

ATLANTA — Here are three things we learned from the Braves' 7-0 home loss to the Marlins, snapping the club's six-game win streak.

Atlanta (83-53) hasn't suffered a loss of seven or more runs since May 11 (a 10-1 road drubbing to the Giants).

To put that in better perspective ... on May 11:

**For TV's Mad Men, Jon Hamm's "Don Draper" character was still seven episodes from getting, uh, asked to temporarily leave Sterling Cooper & Partners for personal reasons.

**The Dodgers, now 81-55 and running away with the National League West crown, were 14-21 overall and seven games behind the Diamondbacks on that day.

**Journeyman pitcher Francisco Liriano, currently tied for second in MLB wins this year (15 — heading into Sunday), made his seasonal (and victorious) debut with the Pirates that day.

**And Braves third baseman Chris Johnson (1 for 1 on Sunday), currently leading the National League in batting (.333), was still viewed as an afterthought to the off-season blockbuster trade, bringing Justin Upton to Atlanta.

In other words, it makes little sense to dissect, or even lament the quirkiness of the occasional blowout defeat to a Marlins squad (50-85) that's 25 games out of first place ... and probably two years from being relevant in baseball circles.

Prior to Sunday's rough turn — surrendering seven runs and eight hits in just 2 1/3 innings — the 22-year-old Wood had enjoyed a six-start run of quiet dominance, notching three wins, a 1.46 ERA, 0.97 WHIP and 35/10 K-BB rate from July 30-Aug. 27.

In fact, Wood looked so polished and poised, at times, that a certain FOX Sports South writer (last name rhymes with Schlemons) had already begun campaigning on the rookie's behalf, in terms of starting Game 4 for the National League Division Series round.

And who knows, that still might happen ... regardless of one forgettable outing.

On this day, Wood was no match for Marlins catcher Jeff Mathis (three RBI) and his crucial hits in the second (solo homer) and third inning (bases-loaded double). On the whole, though, the kid has been fantastic, regularly keeping his WHIP around 1.00 and serving as a viable threat for eight, nine or even 10 strikeouts whenever taking the mound.

Plus, Wood's next four September starts will likely come against non-playoff clubs like the Phillies, Marlins (revenge date?), Nationals and Brewers.

For those not familiar with Wood's story, he was a first-round pick last year out of the University of Georgia. He then breezed through the Braves system in relatively minimal time, skating through Single-A and Double-A ball (1.76 ERA after 23 starts and 109.2 innings) before securing a spot in the Atlanta bullpen (setup man/situational lefty).