Miami, FL – Justin Upton and Gerald Laird each drove in two runs in the 14th inning and the division-leading Atlanta Braves put together a brilliant bullpen performance to get past the bottom-feeding Miami Marlins, 7-1, in the opener of a three-game NL East series.
There were a lot of zeroes put up by both bullpens, and Miami's relievers had retired a remarkable 24 consecutive hitters leading up to the deciding inning.
Chris Hatcher (0-1), called up from Triple-A New Orleans on Sunday, couldn't sustain the lights-out effort in his first big-league appearance of the season, as the Braves batted around with four hits and three walks.
Reed Johnson and Jason Heyward both walked in front of Upton's two-run double down the left-field line, and Laird tacked on two more when he singled up the middle with the bases loaded.
Chris Johnson added a single to left that pushed two more across thanks to Justin Ruggiano's error, and the Braves held on to hand the Marlins a fourth straight loss.
Five Braves relievers combined for 5 2/3 hitless innings before Giancarlo Stanton led off the 13th with a single off David Carpenter (2-0), who stranded two in the frame and earned the win in the four-hour, 14-minute pitching duel.
Mike Minor did not factor in the decision despite allowing just one run on six hits in 6 1/3 innings for Atlanta, which had lost four of five coming in.
"It was a good team win," Minor said.
Kevin Slowey, back in Miami's rotation as a result of Ricky Nolasco being traded to the Dodgers, was pulled after allowing four hits and one walk over five scoreless innings.
He left with a 1-0 lead after Ruggiano's two-out single to left plated Adeiny Hechavarria in the fifth, but the Braves quickly evened things in the sixth.
Heyward greeted Dan Jennings with a leadoff triple, finding plenty of space in the right-field gap and sliding in for his first three-bagger of the season. Upton followed with a sacrifice fly to deep right field to get the Braves on the board, but it was the first of 24 straight retired by Miami relievers.
"Those guys pitched really well," Marlins manager Mike Redmond said of his bullpen.
Minor struck out Jeff Mathis to leave the bases loaded in the sixth, and Jordan Walden stranded a pair in scoring position an inning later by retiring Marcell Ozuna on a routine groundout to second.
Luis Avilan tossed two scoreless innings of relief for Atlanta but needed Heyward to make a leaping catch just in front of the right-field wall to rob Ruggiano of extra bases with one out in the ninth.
Carpenter worked out of a two-on, no-out situation in the 13th by getting Logan Morrison to bounce into a double play and Hechavarria on a harmless flyout to right. Stanton led off the frame with a single -- the first hit by either team since Miami's Derek Dietrich reached on a swinging bunt down the third-base line with two outs in the sixth inning.
Game Notes
The roof at Marlins Park was open at the start of the game for the first time since May 17 ... Slowey made his first start since June 12 ... Since June 16, Marlins starting pitchers have allowed three-or-fewer runs in 19 of 21 games ... Minor has not won in his last five outings ... Miami went 2-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 ... Chad Qualls, Steve Cishek and Mike Dunn each tossed two perfect innings of relief for Miami, which took two of three in Atlanta last week but still trails the season series, 5-2.
Receive your weekly recap of all the happenings around the world of sports.