Marlins score 3 in 1st, beat Braves 4-2
ATLANTA — Miami broke out for three runs in the first inning against Ben Sheets after scoring just three total in two losses to Atlanta, and the Marlins ended the Braves’ seven-game winning streak with a 4-2 victory Wednesday night.
Carlos Lee, Greg Dobbs and Bryan Petersen had consecutive run-scoring singles in the first inning for Miami.
Carlos Zambrano (6-9) gave up one run in 1 2-3 innings in relief of Wade LeBlanc. Steve Cishek pitched the ninth for his fifth save.
Cishek walked pinch-hitter Michael Bourn to open the ninth. He recovered to strike out pinch-hitter Brian McCann before ending the game when Martin Prado hit into a double play.
Zambrano earned the win in his second appearance since being removed from the rotation.
Sheets (3-1) gave up 11 hits and four runs, three earned, in 6 2-3 innings in his first loss in four starts with Atlanta.
The Braves’ win streak matched their season best.
Freddie Freeman had three hits and Reed Johnson had two hits in his first start with the Braves.
LeBlanc gave up only five hits and one run in 4 1-3 innings in his first start of the season. He was pulled by manager Ozzie Guillen after giving up a single by Paul Janish and Sheets’ sacrifice bunt in the fifth.
The early hook came after Guillen said of LeBlanc before the game “I’m just begging for him to give me five innings. That’s not too hard to do. ... We need more than four or five innings from our starting pitchers from now on.”
The Braves’ only run off LeBlanc came when Freeman, who reached on a single, scored on a double by Janish with two outs in the second inning. Bryan Petersen appeared to hurt his right shoulder as he made a diving attempt to catch the bloop double by Janish. Petersen remained in the game.
Emilio Bonifacio started the game with a bunt single on Sheets’ first pitch. Bonifacio stole second, moved to third on Donnie Murphy’s single and scored on Lee’s bloop single to right field. Dobbs and Petersen also had run-scoring singles for the 3-0 lead.
The Marlins pushed their lead to 4-1 in the fourth when Scott Cousins, who reached on an infield single with two outs, scored when left fielder Martin Prado misplayed LeBlanc’s double for an error.
Dan Uggla’s double off Zambrano drove in Chipper Jones, who walked, to cut Miami’s lead to 4-2 in the sixth.
Mike Dunn gave up back-to-back walks to load the bases with two outs in the seventh before ending the inning on Freeman’s line drive to right field.
Janish delivered the defensive highlight in the third inning. Sprinting from his shortstop position, Janish ended up on his stomach after making a diving catch at the left-field foul line of a flyball hit by Jose Reyes. Reyes stood staring from second base as Janish returned to his feet.
There was a brief delay when Carlos Lee’s bat hit home-plate umpire Joe West on Lee’s follow-through on his swing in the fifth. The impact knocked West’s mask off and left a cut on his face.
NOTES: Reyes has a 19-game hitting streak, the longest active streak in the majors. He was picked off by Sheets after his fifth-inning single. ... Guillen said he will start Gorkys Hernandez, acquired from the Pirates on Tuesday, in center field on Thursday night. Hernandez was a defensive replacement in left field in the seventh. ... Guillen said he hasn’t decided who will join RHP Josh Johnson as the starters in Friday’s doubleheader at Washington. ... The Braves placed RHP Jair Jurrjens on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right groin, clearing a roster spot for Paul Maholm, who was acquired with Johnson from the Cubs on Monday night. ... Braves LHP Mike Minor will face Marlins RHP Nate Eovaldi as the teams conclude their four-game series on Thursday night.