Medlen takes the hill for Braves in Miami

Righty Kris Medlen will try to make it two straight pitching gems for the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night when they visit the Miami Marlins for the second of three games at Marlins Park.

The visitors got seven innings of scoreless one-hit ball from lefty Paul Maholm in Monday's opener, en route to a 2-0 victory. Justin Upton scored the game's only two runs and went 4-for-4 with a double.

He also became the first player in Braves history with six home runs in his team's first seven games of the season.

Atlanta (6-1) is off to its best start since the 2007 squad opened the year with a 7-1 mark.

Maholm (2-0) struck out seven batters, while walking three over seven solid innings. The lefty was also sharp in his season debut Wednesday, pitching 5 2/3 scoreless innings in a 9-2 victory over Philadelphia.

Placido Polanco and Rob Brantly provided the only two hits for the Marlins (1-6), losers of three straight. Starter Kevin Slowey (0-2) tossed seven innings, yielding two runs on six hits while striking out three in defeat.

Meanwhile, Medlen, a 10th-round draft pick in 2006, was 10-1 as a reliever and spot starter last season while appearing in 50 games and making 12 starts.

He posted a stingy 1.57 earned run average and a .208 opposition batting average across 138 innings of work, but took a 2-0 loss to start 2013 on April 4, when he gave up six hits in five innings against Philadelphia.

Medlen faced the Marlins five times last season, including three starts, and was 2-0 while allowing 15 hits and four runs in 24 innings.

He's faced by Miami lefty Wade LeBlanc, who was also touched for two earned runs in five innings of his initial 2013 start, which ended in a 6-1 loss at Washington on April 4.

The 28-year-old Louisiana native gave up five hits and struck out five in the outing, his 10th as a starter with the Marlins since arriving in Miami to begin the 2012 season.

He's won 19 times through 80 big-league appearances, including a career-best eight victories while with San Diego in 2010.

In six career meetings with the Braves - three starts - he's 0-3 with a 6.62 earned run average and a .300 opposition batting average in 17 2/3 innings.

The Braves won 14 of 18 games between the teams in 2012, including seven of nine in Miami.