*Photo from the San Diego Union Tribune*
One of baseball's best lineups sure is playing like it. Marcell Ozuna drove in two runs, Ozzie Albies homered, and the Atlanta Braves routed the Miami Marlins with a 7-0 victory on Saturday afternoon in Atlanta.
The red hot Braves have now won 7 straight games and 9 of 10, sitting at 55-27 and further strengthening their tight hold on the NL East. In the first two games of the series, the Braves have outscored the Marlins 23-4, and they scored 6 of their 7 runs in the first inning on Saturday.
Miami manager Skip Schumaker said of the Braves offense that "I don't know if the league has figured it out just yet. We're trying to figure it out ourselves. Acuña, with that guy at the leadoff spot, he is tough to get out. If he's not hitting himself in, you've got Olson and Albies and Riley. It's a really good top half and bottom half of a lineup and the league hasn't done a good job yet of figuring out that first inning."
Ronald Acuna Jr hit a leadoff home run in the first inning, giving the Braves an early 1-0 advantage. Albies then hit a solo home run to go back to back with Acuna Jr, doubling the lead to 2-0 after two batters. Up next was Sean Murphy, who hit an RBI double that scored Austin Riley and made the Braves lead 3-0.
Ozuna continued the first inning surge, hitting a two run double that scored Murphy and Matt Olson to make it a 5-0 lead, all before an out was recorded. After the first out of the inning, Orlando Arcia scored Ozuna with an RBI double to make it 6-0. It stayed that way until the 8th inning, when an RBI double from Olson made it a 7-0 final score.
Braves starter Charlie Morton said of the red hot offense that "Nothing much surprises me, but this is ridiculous. I don't think they realize how good they are, which is awesome. They are just really humble for how good they are. I feel fortunate. This is really special for me."
Morton was the starter for the Braves, allowing 4 hits and one walk while pitching 5 2/3 shutout innings. Kirby Yates finished the 6th for Morton before Nick Anderson, Ben Heller, and Joe Jimenez pitched an inning each to close out the game.
Rookie Eury Perez started for the Marlins, recording just one out while allowing 6 runs on 7 hits. George Soriano pitched the next 3 2/3 innings without allowing a hit. Husacar Brazoban pitched two scoreless innings, with Dylan Floro and Steven Okert each pitching an inning.
Perez said of his first bad start in the majors that "They're great hitters, really good batters. They were practically ready for every pitch that I had for them. You've got to understand that there's also going to be bad days like today, and then you've got to get better in that situation and get ready for that next outing."
The series wraps up on Sunday afternoon. The Braves give the start to Spencer Strider as they go for the sweep, while the Marlins look for just their second win against the Braves this season with Sandy Alcantara getting the start.
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