
Miami Marlins (32-54) at Atlanta Braves (53-36)
The Marlins weren’t very good against anyone last season, but they had an especially rough time with the Atlanta Braves. Nineteen contests in common between the two clubs resulted in only four wins for Miami. It’s only natural then, that half of those wins would be featured in the Marlins 10 best games of the season.
The Braves jumped on Marlins starter Caleb Smith early when Ronald Acuna tagged him with a leadoff homer in the bottom of the first. Freddie Freeman added an RBI groundout to score Ozzie Albies later in the frame. Harold Ramirez answered for the Marlins in the next half-inning with his third tater of the year to halve the Braves lead.
Undeterred, Austin Riley reestablished Atlanta’s two-run lead in the bottom of the second with his 16th home run. Starlin Castro then connected on his sixth of the season to get it back down to one.
Nick Markakis doubled home Ozzie Albies in the third to make it 4-2, Bravos, but Smith settled down after that and actually finished with both a Quality Start and a victory. One of the four runs he allowed was unearned, and he lasted six innings while striking out six.
The Braves lead lasted until the fifth inning. Jorge Alfaro hit a one-out double to score Garrett Cooper, then Yadiel Rivera added a two-run single to score Castro and Alfaro to give the Marlins a 5-4 lead they would not relinquish.
Austin Brice, Nick Anderson, and Sergio Romo pitched a scoreless inning each, although each of them surrendered at least one hit. Romo earned his 16th save of the year, and got traded away near the end of the month.