The Atlanta Braves bashed three more home runs in support of Charlie Morton to help secure a 4-2 win over the Miami Marlins Thursday night at Truist Park.
Morton came in needing a good start and was greeted rudely by back-to-back singles from Xavier Edwards and Jake Burger. He came right back though and struck out Jesus Sanchez, Jonah Bride and Kyle Stowers to leave the runners stranded.
It feels like the Braves have waited forever to get their offense rolling again. They entered Thursday’s game with 18 homers over their last six games and they picked right back up where they left off. Austin Riley opened the scoring with his 15th home run to right to put Atlanta in front 1-0.
Marcell Ozuna followed with a single to center and then came around to score on a two-run shot into the Chop House by Matt Olson. For Olson, it was his 18th homer of the season and his fifth in the last six games.
After getting the lead, Morton settled in. He added two more strikeouts in the second and then put up another zero in the third. The Braves tacked on another run in the home half of the third as Orlando Arcia extended his hitting streak to a career-best 12-straight games with a solo shot to left.
The Marlins scratched a run across against Morton in the fifth. Former Braves outfielder Forrest Wall singled to start the inning and then advanced all the way to third on an errant pickoff attempt by Morton. A sacrifice fly by Nick Fortes cut Atlanta’s lead to 4-1.
Morton returned for the sixth and allowed a single to Jonah Bride to start the inning. He struck out Kyle Stowers for the first out and then got Otto Lopez to ground into an inning-ending double play.
That would be it for Morton who bounced back nicely. He allowed five hits and an unearned run over six innings of work. He struck out six and walked two while throwing 96 pitches.
The Marlins cut into Atlanta’s lead further in the seventh. Dylan Lee replaced Morton and struck out Nick Gordon to start the inning. He walked David Hensley, got Fortes to fly out, but then walked Edwards to put runners at first and second. Brian Snitker then summoned Luke Jackson for his first appearance in a Braves uniform since the trade. Jackson was greeted with a run-scoring single by Burger that scored Hensley to make it 4-2. With the tying runs on base, Jackson got Sanchez to ground out harmlessly to Whit Merrifield at second to escape with no further damage.
A.J. Minter struck out two in a perfect eighth and Raisel Iglesias closed things out in the ninth to secure his 23rd save of the season.
The win pushes the Braves back to 10 games over .500 at 59-49. The series will continue Friday with Spencer Schwellenbach on the mound for Atlanta.
