The Miami Marlins were swept by the Atlanta Braves over the weekend, and the series finale was a microcosm of just what happened all series long for the Fish against the Braves. This time, Miami stuck to the Braves early, as the two teams were deadlocked at two runs a piece for the majority of the contest. Nathan Eovaldi played the role of stopper very well, as he allowed just those two runs in one unfortunate inning, but scattered six hits otherwise and struck out four batters with no walks in eight quiet innings.
The Marlins got their runs in a loud fashion. In the second inning, Garrett Jones led off with a double, and only a few pitches later, Marcell Ozuna rocked a two-run home run, his tenth round-tripper of the season, off the top of the Clevelander wall. Miami took the early lead, but gave it back up in the third in Eovaldi's tough inning. Three singles, including the critical Jason Heyward single to drive in the first run, led to an eventual 2-2 tie by then.
The two teams remained tied until the ninth inning. With the Marlins taking the mound in the top of the ninth inning, the team sent out closer Steve Cishek with the intent to hold off until the bottom frame. Freddie Freeman led off with a single and Cishek gave up a two-run homer to Evan Gattis shortly thereafter. With some difficulty and two strikeouts, Cishek escaped, but only after the runs.
The Fish's offense after the second inning was unfortunate in its bad luck. The team peppered multiple line drives hit well into the spacious Marlins Park, but today's game was filled with balls right at people. The team's final stand involved an Ozuna single followed immediately by a double play, and a late run with two outs led to an eventual loss at the hands of Shea Simmons.
Source: FanGraphs
Attendance: 21,997
Hero of the Game: Nathan Eovaldi (0.254 WPA)
Goat of the Game: Steve Cishek (-0.430 WPA)
Play of the Game: Evan Gattis homered in the ninth inning. Freddie Freeman scored. (-0.359 WPA)