Thursday night's series opener against the Miami Marlins was not going particularly well for the Atlanta Braves. Then, the rains came.
The Braves were in a 3-0 hole after 2.5 innings, but following a lengthy rain delay, Atlanta's offense came to life. Immediately following the break in action, the home team clawed out two runs in the bottom half of the third inning, using a Freddie Freeman RBI triple (his fourth of the month) and a Nick Markakis RBI single to slice the deficit. From there, it was only a matter of time.
Tyrell Jenkins, who replaced starter Mike Foltynewicz after the delay, held Miami's bats at bay, allowing the Braves to fully capitalize in the bottom of the sixth inning. Erick Aybar plated the game-tying run with an infield single that scored Jeff Francoeur, and Brandon Snyder (yes, Brandon Snyder) put forth the biggest swing of the game, bringing home two additional runs with a triple off the wall. Chase d'Arnaud then added an RBI single to extend Atlanta's lead to 6-3, and Brian Snitker's team would never trail again.
The Braves would add a seventh run off the bat of Tyler Flowers, when the catcher doubled to score Nick Markakis in the bottom of the seventh inning. That would prove to be more than enough insurance, but d'Arnaud added another run in the eighth, stroking a ground-rule double to left-center that brought Emilio Bonifacio to the plate.
Initially, Thursday's action was billed as the return of Mike Foltynewicz, and it was an up and down performance. The powerful right-hander did issue a three-run blast off the bat of Justin Bour, but aside from that, Foltynewicz was largely effective. In three innings (and 61 pitches) before the rain arrived, Foltynewicz allowed only four base-runners and struck out two while maintaining his velocity in the mid-to-high 90's. The Braves will get a fuller picture of his return in a more lengthy start next week, but it was a reasonably strong outing that was unfortunately cut short.
Following Foltynewicz's exit, the bullpen performed quite admirably. The aforementioned Jenkins ate through 2.1 innings while allowing no runs (despite walking three batters) and the combination of Dario Alvarez, Chris Withrow and Jim Johnson (who was not effective individually) managed to hold Miami's offense in check to the tune of only one run across five full frames. The ninth inning was not as breezy, as Arodys Vizcaino imploded while giving up a run to bring the margin to 8-5, but Mauricio Cabrera emerged from the bullpen and slammed the door to preserve the win.
The Braves and Marlins will continue their four-game series on Friday evening, but after an ugly sweep against the Indians, Atlanta has successfully avoided any chance of that outcome over the weekend.