Atlanta, GA – The Marlins snapped a six-game losing streak with a 7-0 win over the Braves on Sunday, scoring all of their runs in the first three innings against red-hot Atlanta starter Alex Wood.
Wood (3-3) was unbeaten with a 2.18 ERA in seven starts for the NL-best Braves since joining the rotation full time at the end of July, but Miami jumped on him for eight hits in three frames.
Jeff Mathis hit a solo homer in the second inning and had a two-run double to cap a five-run third that made it 7-0.
"It's been a while since I got beat that bad," Wood said. "I can't remember the last time. ... Now it's how you bounce back. You just got to get back up on the horse."
The Marlins avoided a three-game sweep and won for just the second time in their last 12 games.
Nathan Eovaldi (3-5) -- 0-5 in his previous eight starts dating to July 20 -- got the run support and the victory, pitching eight innings and giving up just seven hits and two walks while striking out six.
Steve Cishek pitched the ninth to finish off the shutout. Both of Miami's wins during this 12-game stretch have come via shutouts.
Eovaldi has never thrown a shutout and thought Sunday might be his chance.
Marlins manager Mike Redmond had other ideas.
"I wanted it really bad," said Eovaldi. "Red came up to me and said, 'You're done,' and walked away real quick. I was like, 'Come on, Red. You kidding?' He's like, 'I know you hate me for it.'"
Redmond wanted Cishek to get some work.
"Can't really control it. He's got the final say and he's got his mind made up," said Eovaldi, who threw 102 pitches -- 73 for strikes.
The Braves had a six-game winning streak snapped.
Placido Polanco knocked in the first run with a single in the first inning on a 1-1 breaking ball Wood called "stupid." It allowed Polanco to do what he wanted -- slap a ball to the outfield to score a run.
"We got our butt kicked today, but it happens," said Braves catcher Gerald Laird.
The Braves won the series 2-1, and Laird said that's what matters.
"If we win series here on out," he said, "we're gonna be where we want to be and that's the postseason."
The Marlins are traveling to Chicago for three straight against the Cubs starting Monday to end their nine-game road trip.
The Braves are 5-1 on a nine-game homestand that ends with three against the New York Mets starting Monday.
Game Notes
The Marlins reinstated outfielder Chris Coghlan from the 15-day disabled list on Sunday. They recalled pitcher Chris Hatcher and selected the contract of Zach Phillips from Triple-A New Orleans ... The Braves are 10-5 against the Marlins this season.
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