With the opportunity to capture their second three-game sweep over the Marlins, the Braves failed to generate much offensively in a 7-3 loss to Miami on Sunday evening at Turner Field.
The crowd was one of the strongest all season due to a mix of a Memorial Day Weekend crowd and those wishing to see Chris Stapleton afterward, but the Braves never led in the four-run defeat -- failing to get the bats going at all. They totaled just three hits in the game.
Julio Teheran held together, but his pitch count ran high early as he struggled a bit with his command. He was pulled after a Derek Dietrich home run in the top of the sixth inning with his pitch count at 113. His final line was 5.1 innings, five hits, three walks, three runs, and three strikeouts.
His opposition, Tom Koehler, also struggled with command early, but he pulled it together and lasted into the eighth inning. Koehler improved to 3-5 on the year as he went seven innings, allowing three hits, five walks, and two runs while striking out two.
The Braves had their first opportunity to get on the board in the bottom of the first inning. Koehler's command issues of over five walks per nine innings continued in Atlanta as he walked two of the first three batters he faced. With runners on first and second and one out, Jeff Francoeur grounded into a force out at second to put runners on the corners with two away. Nick Markakis grounded out to end the inning.
Neither team posed much of a threat offensively again until the top of the fourth inning. The flaming hot bat of Marcell Ozuna led off with a single to center field. Justin Bour's walk and Dietrich's single loaded the bases with nobody out, giving the Marlins a golden opportunity to break open a sizable lead. Instead, Teheran managed the trouble well, allowing just one run on a groundout while striking out the final two batters in the inning.
Atlanta answered immediately in the bottom half of the inning. After Freddie Freeman flew out to lead off, Koehler issued his fourth walk of the game to Francoeur to get things going. Markakis followed with a double to put runners on second and third with one out. A.J. Pierzynski's sacrifice fly tied the game at 1-apiece.
After a scoreless fifth inning for both clubs, Miami's offense picked up the pace to force Teheran out of the game. Justin Bour got things going in the sixth with a one-out double to right field. Two pitches later, Julio Teheran bent down and yelled in frustration as Dietrich's ball sailed off of his bat, deep into the right field seats to give the Marlins a 3-1 lead. Dietrich was 3-3 with a home run, double, and four RBI's in the game. Teheran was pulled after the home run, throwing 113 pitches in just 5.1 innings.
The Marlins tallied a few insurance runs in the following inning against Eric O'Flaherty. Martin Prado's one-out double started the rally. After getting Christian Yelich to ground out, O'Flaherty had two away with just a runner on second. The Braves decided to intentionally walk Ozuna, and Atlanta's old friend, Chris Johnson, pinch hit for the Marlins with two on. Johnson singled to score Prado, and Dietrich struck again with a two-RBI double to give Miami a 6-1 lead headed into the seventh inning stretch.
In the bottom of the eighth, the Braves managed to get a few runs back with some offense of their own. Mallex Smith pinch hit and led off with a five-pitch walk. Ender Inciarte singled to follow and Gordon Beckham reached on an error that scored Smith and put two on with no one out. With a big-inning possibility, Freeman struck out, Francoeur hit a sacrifice fly to score Inciarte, and Markakis struck out to end the threat with Atlanta trailing 6-3.
Miami struck once more in the ninth inning when Ozuna lined his 10th homer of the year straight to center field off of Ian Krol.