Three Cuts: Braves fall late, incur first Miami sweep since '06
Before we get into the relievers, it's worth noting Santana (three runs allowed, five strikeouts over six innings) logged only 92 pitches for the night -- the lowest output since his Braves debut on April 9.
If he had stretched out Thursday's outing to one more frame -- with an easy assumption of 14-16 pitches -- perhaps he has enough stuff to sail through the heart of the Marlins lineup (Christian Yelich, Giancarlo Stanton, Casey McGhee, Garrett Jones, etc.) ... and perhaps Atlanta has a different strategy for handling the final two innings with a lead.
Instead, the Braves entered the 7th devoid of their red-hot starter and clinging to a one-run advantage. On the bright side, their full complement of power arms was available for action.
For the seventh inning, lefty reliever Ian Thomas surrendered singles to Reed Johnson and Yelich, before retiring Derek Dietrich with a lineout.
After that, David Carpenter repeated the same pattern of his predecessor, allowing back-to-back singles before registering an out. But unlike Thomas's struggles, the singles off Carpenter (Stanton and McGehee) led to the game-tying and go-ahead runs for the Marlins.
Obviously, the Braves didn't play well for a good chunk of the three-game set in Miami; and the bullpen shared the same fate, allowing four runs over 9.1 innings.
Upton had a good night against Marlins starter Henderson Alvarez, launching a towering three-run homer in the 3rd and then notching his fifth steal in the 5th.
For those two at-bats, the veteran flashed his immense potential when hitting in the 2-hole, expertly bridging the gap to Freddie Freeman (six HRs, 17 RBI, 17 runs, .305 batting, .378 on- base percentage) and Justin Upton (eight homers, 18 RBI, .323 batting, 1.030 OPS) -- perhaps baseball's most prolific 3-4 hitters for the month of April.
In Johnson's case, the 3-for-3 night might have been a carryover effect from his reported contract extension earlier in the day.
The 29-year-old infielder, who has a .311 batting average in his tenure with the Braves (including Thursday's effort), reportedly gets a deal that buys out two arbitration seasons (2015-16) and one free-agent year (2017).
There may also be an option for 2018, according to a tweet from FOX Sports baseball insider Ken Rosenthal, although it's unclear if that clause must be exercised mutually.
In his brief time with Atlanta (2013-14), Johnson has helped the Braves transition from the Chipper Jones era, cumulatively racking up 13 homers, 72 RBI and flirting with a National League batting title at the end of last season.
Johnson has also been dynamite with the glove and rock-steady with his leadership since coming to Atlanta.
The optimist would point to the Marlins' 14-14 record, which includes a sterling 12-4 mark at home.
They might also note that, heading into Thursday's action, Miami's starting rotation had a cumulative ERA of 3.22 -- the ninth-best tally in baseball. Or how the Marlins currently lead the majors in runs at home (99).
The pessimist, in turn, would remind the world of the Marlins' wretched 2-10 record on the road, along with how four journeyman players -- McGehee, Garrett Jones, Kevin Slowey, Carlos Marmol -- have carved out regular roles on a club that's still two or three years from being a viable playoff contender.
Of course, McGehee has seasonal tallies of 18 RBI and a .305 batting average, so perhaps we're being a tad harsh on the "journeyman" label.
And after that ... Atlanta (17-10, 1st in NL East) has a quick-turnaround roadie with San Francisco and St. Louis.
