Marlins win 7-3 to complete sweep of Braves

The Miami Marlins completed a three-game sweep of the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday afternoon, knocking off Atlanta 7-3 and sending the Braves to their eighth straight loss.

Miami took the lead for good in the fifth with a three-run inning. Dee Gordon and Christian Yelich led off the inning with consecutive singles, and Martin Prado drove home Gordon with a sac fly. Justin Bour was doubled up, but Marcell Ozuna made his mark. Ozuna took liftoff on an 0-2 pitch, blasting a line drive just over the wall in left field for a two-run homer and a 6-3 Marlins advantage.

The Braves activated Williams Perez from Triple-A before the game. In order for him to return to the big league squad within ten days of being sent down, he had to replace an injured player. Atlanta placed Mike Foltynewicz on the 15-day disabled list with costochondritis to make room for Perez. The big right-hander continued his struggles, however, giving up six runs (four earned) on nine hits in five innings.

Perez gave up two runs in the second after an easy first. After a leadoff walk to Ozuna, Adeiny Hechavarria inexplicably reached base on a bunt attempt that neither Perez nor catcher Christian Bethancourt seemed keen on picking up and throwing the ball to first. Jeff Mathis hit a run-scoring double and pitcher Adam Conley singled home another run in the inning.

After failing to score with two runners on and none out in the second, the Braves finally broke through in the third inning. Perez led off with a walk and Cameron Maybin reached on a chopper that shortstop Miguel Rojas, who entered the game when Hechavarria strained his hamstring, was unable to handle. Andrelton Simmons nearly grounded into a double play in the next at-bat, but a replay review overturned the call on the field, as Marlins second baseman Gordon whiffed on a tag attempt of Maybin.

Freddie Freeman walked on four pitches, and Adonis Garcia flew out to center to drive in a run. Perez raced home and just beat a strong throw from Ozuna. Nick Swisher was hit by a pitch to load the bases once again, this time for newcomer Hector Olivera. The 30-year-old rookie notched his first hit in Major League Baseball, chopping a ball through the hole on the left side of the infield that scored two, giving the Braves a 3-2 lead.

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Olivera finished the day 1-for-3 with the two RBIs in his second game with the Braves. Swisher was 2-for-3 and Maybin and Garcia tallied the only other hits on the day for the struggling offense.

Conley filled five innings of the game for Miami, giving up four hits and three runs to go along with three walks and four strikeouts to tally his third win of the season. The Marlins bullpen strung together four scoreless innings to finish the ballgame.

The Marlins placed at least one runner in scoring position in the second, third, fourth, fifth, seventh, eighth, and ninth innings. Yelich had an incredible day at the plate, going 4-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored. Prado cracked two hits and drove in two runs. Ichiro got a pair of base knocks as well.

Atlanta faced three left-handed starters in the series in Chris Narveson, Justin Nicolino, and Adam Conley, and had little success against all of them. In a peculiar oddity, Tuesday's matchup pitted two starters with the jersey number 60 and Wednesday's game displayed both starters wearing jersey number 61.

The Braves open a week-long road trip Thursday against the Nationals at 7:05 p.m. ET on SportSouth.