The visiting Atlanta Braves got three-run homers from Austin Riley and Dominic Smith to back up Chris Sale’s strong pitching effort, defeating the Miami Marlins 9-1 on Wednesday.
Riley’s home run, his eighth, came in the second inning and Smith’s blast, his fifth, came on the 12th pitch of his at-bat in the sixth. Both homers came against Miami starter Janson Junk.
Sale (7-3) ended a two-game losing streak and earned his first career victory against Miami. He pitched seven innings and allowed one run on four hits, striking out eight. He has given up one or fewer runs in eight of 10 starts this season
Victor Mederos, recalled from Triple-A on Tuesday, made his Atlanta debut and pitched two scoreless innings to finish the game.
Junk (2-5) pitched five innings and failed to retire any of five batters he faced in the sixth. He allowed a career-high eight runs on eight hits, striking out three. He has allowed 15 runs in 10 2/3 innings over his last two starts.
The Marlins’ lone run came in the bottom of the first. Xavier Edwards led off with a single and came around to score on a sacrifice fly from Heriberto Hernandez.
The Braves took a 3-1 lead in the second inning when Riley hit a three-run shot to straightaway center field. It was his fifth homer of the month.
Atlanta put the game away with a five-run outburst in the sixth. Matt Olson and Ozzie Albies each had RBI singles that preceded Smith’s home run. The RBI, Olson’s 42nd, moved him into a tie for the major league lead.
Atlanta added a run in the eighth on a triple from Smith, the sixth of his career. Center fielder Esteury Ruiz and right fielder Owen Caissie collided on the warning track while trying to catch Smith’s long drive. The ball popped out of the glove of Ruiz, who hurried to retrieve the ball and threw wildly to the infield, allowing Smith to score. Caissie was originally charged with a fielding error, but it was overturned to a triple. Ruiz was charged with a throwing error.
