Soler, Riley send surging Braves past Marlins 2-0

MIAMI (AP) — Jorge Soler snapped a scoreless tie with a two-out RBI single in the eighth inning, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Miami Marlins 2-0 Tuesday night.

Pinch-hitter Abraham Almonte drew a one-out walk against Miami starter Sandy Alcantara, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Soler fought back from an 0-2 count and hit an opposite-field line drive to right that scored Almonte.

“In that at-bat, I tried to stay calm because I was a bit anxious,” Soler said. “I let it come to me.”

Austin Riley hit his 26th homer, a solo blast off Marlins reliever Anthony Bender in the ninth. Freddie Freeman had two hits for the NL East-leading Braves, who won their fifth straight and 12th in 14 games. Atlanta also has won nine straight road games

Chris Martin (2-3) got the win by pitching a scoreless seventh. Luke Jackson followed with a scoreless eighth, and Will Smith got his 26th save with a perfect ninth.

“There are some really good things that happened in that game,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “That’s a good baseball game. Solid.”

Alcantara (7-11) was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the eighth. The right-hander allowed one run and five hits, with seven strike outs and one walk.

“Sandy was electric out of the gate,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “He had a really good breaking ball, pounding the strike zone, getting the ball where he wanted it to be. He was on the attack. He was forcing them to swing the bat. He was really good."

In his two last home starts, Alcantara has yielded three runs in 15 innings, while the Marlins scored once.

“That’s tough, I can’t do anything about it,” Alcantara said. “I just have to keep my head up, do my job and keep pitching.”

Braves starter Huascar Ynoa and Alcantara...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/Soler-Riley-send-surging-Braves-past-Marlins-2-0-16394128.php