For the second consecutive game, a starting pitcher for the Atlanta Braves was shelled and, non-coincidentally, the results on the scoreboard were less than favorable. Eric Stults placed the Braves in a deep hole, and the offense could not dig out of it on the way to a 6-2 defeat at the hands of the Miami Marlins.
Stults, who was making his second start of the season, managed to navigate the first two innings unharmed, but the damage began in the third frame. Dee Gordon was credited for a double (that should have been a single) that plated two runs, and while the veteran left-hander escaped further issues, the biggest blow was looming.
The soft-hitting Adeiny Hechavarria blasted a two-run home run at the expense of Stults in the fifth inning, and that gave the Marlins a 4-0 lead and the cushion they needed. Stults did complete five innings, while allowing five hits, two walks and those four runs, but on a day where Atlanta desperately needed a quality, lengthy outing following a very short showing from Trevor Cahill, Stults failed to deliver in either regard.
In an interesting change, the offense... reverted back to 2014 form. Obviously that is an overstatement, but the Braves scored only two runs, and both came on solo blasts. Cameron Maybin got things started with a home run in the sixth (slashing the lead to 5-1), and Kelly Johnson hit his first home run of the season in the seventh to bring Atlanta within three runs.
The non-Stults pitching staff was a mixed bag, starting with a bumpy ride from Cody Martin in 1.1 innings. Martin has been electric this season out of the 'pen, but he was touched for a run on three hits, and after 1.2 scoreless frames from Luis Avilan, Brandon Cunniff began the ninth with back-to-back walks and allowed a run to .
Still, any measure of strong bullpen performance would not have been enough to keep the Braves from suffering a loss, as the offense simply wasn't prolific enough to overcome the slow start from Stults. Atlanta managed just three hits and the two runs in the game, and the quintet of Phil Gosselin, Freddie Freeman, Christian Bethancourt, Jonny Gomes and Jace Peterson finished the afternoon with a combined output of 0-17 at the plate.
On the positive side, the Atlanta Braves are 6-3 after three series, and that would have been considered a significant "win" prior to the start of the season. The Braves have an off day on Thursday before beginning a weekend set against the Toronto Blue Jays, and mercifully, that series will be captained by starting pitching from Julio Teheran, Alex Wood and Shelby Miller.