Travis d’Arnaud continued his power binge with another home run and Bryce Elder returned from the minor leagues to throw 6 2/3 scoreless innings and help the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 3-0 on Monday.
The Braves won for the seventh time in eight games, and they improved to 3-1 against the Marlins this season. Miami has alternated wins and losses over the past five games.
d’Arnaud homered for the fifth time in his past three starts, with his two-run blast in the fourth inning opening the scoring.
Elder, an All-Star last year who started the season with Triple-A Gwinnett, was recalled on Monday for his first major league appearance of the season. He scattered eight hits, did not walk a batter and struck out four.
Elder (1-0) left with two outs in the seventh after Emmanuel Rivera singled. Pierce Johnson entered the game and struck out Nick Fortes to end the inning.
A.J. Minter pitched a perfect eighth inning and set an Atlanta record with his 108th hold (since the stat was tracked beginning in 1986). Raisel Iglesias worked a scoreless ninth to earn his seventh save.
Miami starter Ryan Weathers (2-2) pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on six hits and three walks with one strikeout.
A baserunning blunder by Luis Arraez cost the Marlins a run in the first inning. Arraez failed to score from second base on a double and was thrown out at the plate by center fielder Michael Harris II.
The Braves scored all three runs in the fourth inning. Marcell Ozuna walked and d’Arnaud pulled a changeup that hit the foul pole in left field. Adam Duvall walked, took second on Harris’ groundout and scored on David Fletcher’s single. It was Fletcher’s hit since joining the Braves on April 16.
Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna Jr. singled and stole second base in the first inning. The steal was the 190th of his career, setting an Atlanta-era franchise record.
–Field Level Media
