Braves blank Marlins 5-0, Miami goes 20 innings without scoring
Max Fried pitched a three-hitter for Atlanta's first nine-inning complete game since 2022, Adam Duvall had a two-run homer and the Atlanta Braves blanked the Miami Marlins for the second night in a row, 5-0 on Tuesday.
After a dismal start, Fried (2-0) has recaptured the form that makes him one of baseball's top starters. It helped to be facing the struggling Marlins, who dropped to 6-19 and have gone 20 innings without scoring a run.
They remained 0-for-Atlanta after getting blanked 3-0 in the series opener Monday. With a week still to go in April, Miami is already 11 1/2 games behind the Braves in the NL East.
Fried breezed through the night, throwing 69 of 92 pitches for strikes. He fanned six, didn't walk anyone and needed only 1 hour, 54 minutes to dispatch the Marlins in the major leagues' fourth complete game this season.
Fried had Atlanta's previous complete game last April 28 but that one lasted only five innings before it was called because of rain. The last Braves starter to go the full nine innings was Bryce Elder in an 8-0 victory over Washington on Sept. 26, 2022.
Emmanuel Rivera singled for the Marlins leading off the third but was quickly erased when Otto Lopez grounded into an around-the-horn double play. That was the lone baserunner that Fried allowed through the first six innings.
Luis Arráez led off seventh with a single and everyone was safe when Bryan De La Cruz's grounder was bobbled by third baseman Austin Riley.
But Fried escaped with the shutout intact. Josh Bell hit into another double play and Avisail Garcia grounded out to end the only real scoring threat by the Marlins.
Duvall broke open the game in the sixth with his second homer this season, capping a three-run inning that stretched Atlanta's lead to 5-0 off Trevor Rogers (0-3). Riley used a nifty, head-first slide to score on Travis d'Arnaud's sacrifice fly before Duvall golfed a low pitch from Rogers over the Marlins bullpen in left field.
The Braves scored a pair of unearned runs in the second.
With one out and Marcell Ozuna at first after a walk, Duvall hit an easy grounder to third and Lopez was so focused on turning a double play that he bobbled the ball twice before firing late to first, leaving everyone safe.
Michael Harris II brought home Ozuna with a double down the right-field line and David Fletcher, filling in for injured Ozzie Albies, drove one deep enough to score Duvall on a sacrifice fly.
Marlins: LHP Josh Simpson was having surgery to repair the ulnar nerve in his elbow. He was recently transferred to the 60-day injured list and is expected to miss at least three months.
Braves: Riley was hit on the left arm by a pitch in the seventh inning and hopped around in a bit of pain, but he was able to stay in the game. ... Albies (fractured toe) should be ready to come off the injured list when he's eligible Friday, manager Brian Snitker confirmed, just in time for a weekend series against the first-place Cleveland Guardians.
RHP Reynaldo López (2-0, 0.50 ERA) looks to keep up his strong start with the Braves when he faces the Marlins on Wednesday. Signed as a free agent and converted back into a starter, Lopez has allowed just one earned run and 11 hits over his first three appearances for Atlanta, with 18 strikeouts in 18 innings. Miami had not yet announced who would start the series finale.
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