Miami Marlins shut down Atlanta Braves behind Adam Conley

MIAMI -- Miami Marlins manager Don Mattingly said Adam Conley has "days when his stuff is really good and other days when it's not as sharp."

Wednesday was one of those good days.

Conley, a 26-year-old left-hander, pitched eight scoreless innings and Justin Bour blasted a two-run homer as Miami finally defeated the last-place Atlanta Braves at Marlins Park, prevailing 3-0 on Wednesday afternoon.

Miami (38-34) improved to 1-4 against the Braves this year at Marlins Park. Since this stadium opened in 2012, the Braves are 29-13 in Miami.

Atlanta (24-47) has won six of eight games overall against Miami this season.

Conley (4-4) threw 114 pitches -- two short of his season high -- and the eight innings represent a new career best. He held Atlanta to four hits, one hit-by-pitch, one wild pitch and one walk, striking out four. He allowed just one extra-base hit -- a harmless two-out double by Erick Aybar in the fifth.

The biggest jam for Conley came in the first, when leadoff batter Jace Peterson hit an infield single and reached third base with one out. But Conley, who lowered his ERA to 3.56, struck out Freddie Freeman swinging and got Jeff Francoeur to ground out to end the threat.

Conley is the first Marlins starter this year to complete the eighth inning, which he said was a source of pride.

"Any game you get a chance to win is important, but especially for us today, to save the bullpen and to beat a team that has been having success against us," Conley said. "The Braves, for whatever reason, have played really well here, and we haven't figured that out."

The Braves and Marlins split their abbreviated two-game series this week. Atlanta scored no runs in the two games against Marlins starters -- seven scoreless by Jose Fernandez on Tuesday and Conley's eight frames on Wednesday.

But Atlanta rallied against Miami's bullpen to win in 10 innings on Tuesday, and -- for a minute -- it looked like the Braves might do the same thing again on Wednesday.

With none on and two outs in the ninth against Marlins closer A.J. Ramos, the Braves got singles from Nick Markakis and A.J. Pierzynski to bring the tying run to the plate. Chase d'Arnaud then lined out to left to end the game, giving Ramos his 23rd save in 23 chances this season.

That out officially ended Atlanta's season-high six-game win streak.

"I felt good," Braves interim manager Brian Snitker said of the ninth inning. "Chase is up there, and he can hit it in the gap or hit one out. I had a good feeling we were going to come roaring back again in the ninth. We just couldn't get the big hit."

John Gant (1-2) took the loss, allowing seven hits, no walks and three runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Miami's three runs were all scored in the second inning. Marcell Ozuna lined a leadoff triple to left-center and scored on Bour's home run to the upper deck in right field. It was Bour's 12th homer of the season, and it came on an 0-1 pitch.

Jeff Mathis capped the rally with an RBI single to left. That scored Derek Dietrich, who had also singled.

"If you really want my thoughts, we should have scored five runs there instead of three," Mattingly said of the inning that included six hits, including five in a row. "It would have been nice to tack on and take the stress away."

Even so, three runs were more than enough for Conley.

"That kid was on," Snitker said of Conley. "He was using his fastball a lot. He was really aggressive. He kept us off balance -- he elevated when he had to and had a good outing."

NOTES: Marlins RF Ichiro Suzuki went 1-for-4 and now has 2,983 career hits, two behind Sam Rice for 30th place on the MLB career list. ... Dating to last season, Marlins RHP A.J. Ramos has 32 consecutive saves, one behind Steve Cishek for the franchise record. ... The triple by Marlins CF Marcell Ozuna was his fifth of the season, matching a career high. ... Braves RHP Tyrell Jenkins made his major league debut in the eighth, pitching a scoreless inning, allowing only one hit. ... Entering Wednesday, Marlins pitchers had a 3.20 ERA with Jeff Mathis catching and a 4.22 ERA with J.T. Realmuto. Having caught Wednesday's 3-0 shutout, Mathis' defensive numbers improved further. ... Up next, the Marlins host the Chicago Cubs -- who have the best record in baseball -- for four games. The teams split their season series 3-3 last year. ... Atlanta returns home to open a four-game series against the New York Mets. Atlanta swept the Mets in three games last week.