Braves embarrassed in 16-2 loss to Marlins

The Atlanta Braves fell behind early and things only got worse from there in a 16-2 loss to the Miami Marlins.

Things started well enough for Charlie Morton who struck out four of the first eight hitters he faced over the first two innings of the game. Things would go sideways in the third though as Morton allowed three straight singles to Nick Fortes, Luis Arraez, and Jorge Soler. Josh Bell roped an RBI single into right field, scoring Fortes and giving Miami the 1-0 lead. Unfortunately for the Braves the damage would not stop there as Jazz Chisolm would smash a grand slam to put the Marlins up 5-0.

The Braves loaded the bases in the fourth, but Jesus Luzardo struck out Kevin Pillar to leave them stranded. Morton worked a 1-2-3 fourth and retired the first two hitters in the fifth before things again went sideways. Morton walked the next four hitters to force in another run and extend the deficit to 6-0. He was then replaced by Dereck Rodriguez who got Joey Wendle to ground out to end the inning.

It was a tough outing for Morton who allowed six hits, five walks and six runs in just 4 2/3 innings. He struck out five while throwing 98 pitches.

Rodriguez, who was added to the roster as a fresh arm prior to Sunday’s game, didn’t provide much relief. Luis Arraez made it 7-0 with a double in the sixth. Jorge Soler hit a long two-run home run to left to push it to 9-0. Miami added another run on a ground out with the bases loaded by Garrett Hampson.

Rodriguez allowed another run scoring single to Arraez and a three-run homer to Burger in the 7th that made it 14-0. Infielder Nicky Lopez took over on the mound at that point.

Marcell Ozuna homerd with one out in the eighth to give the Braves their first run. Travis d’Arnaud followed with a double and then came around to score on a single by Michael Harris to make it 14-2.

Lopez allowed a homer to Fortes in the eighth and a run-scoring single by Jon Berti to round out the scoring. Catcher Jacob Stallings closed out things on the mound for the Marlins in the ninth.

Atlanta suffers the three-game sweep and falls to 96-53 on the season. They will return home on Monday where they will begin a three-game series against the Philadelphia Phillies.