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Miami Marlins use homers, Jose Urena's arm to slay Atlanta Braves

By Guy Curtright, The Sports Xchange
Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Urena delivers a pitch. File photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Urena delivers a pitch. File photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI | License Photo

ATLANTA -- The Miami Marlins hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning and that was enough to get Jose Urena another road victory.

Marcell Ozuna hit a three-run homer and J.T. Realmuto followed by also going deep off Atlanta rookie starter Lucas Sims as the Marlins salvaged the finale of a three-game series with a 4-1 victory on Sunday.

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Urena (10-5) allowed three hits and run over six innings to improve to 7-0 away from Miami this season. The right-hander, who started the season in the bullpen, struck out three and walked one, leaving after 73 pitches.

"As a starter, he's pretty good right now," Ozuna said. "He's been working on the off-speed (pitch) and he's got a good fastball. When the off-speed is working good, it's hard to hit it."

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Sims (0-2) hit Giancarlo Stanton and walked Christian Yelich with one out in the first inning before giving up the back-to-back homers to Ozuna and Realmuto on hanging breaking balls.

Ozuna connected on a 1-2 curve for his 26th homer, driving the ball over the fence in left-center field. Realmuto pulled a 0-1 slider into the Marlins' bullpen in left field for his 13th homer.

"That is the best thing you can have as a starting pitcher, when your team takes care of you like that," Urena said. "You've just got to go out there and do your thing."

It was the fourth time this season that the Marlins hit homers in consecutive at-bats.

"I've got to do a better job executing pitches," said Sims, who was making his second start. "That put us behind the 8-ball and I can't be doing that. They were both bad pitches."

Ender Inciarte, on a 12-game hitting streak, had two of the three hits against Urena. The center fielder doubled leading off the fourth inning for the Braves' first baserunner, and singled in the sixth to drive in Jace Peterson, who opened the inning with a pinch double.

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"He's got a live arm and he's a good pitcher," Braves manager Brian Snitker said of Urena. "We just couldn't get anything going against him."

The Braves (51-59) had won 18 of the previous 28 games against the Marlins (52-57), including seven of 10 this year.

Jarlin Garcia and Junichi Tazawa each pitched a perfect inning in relief for the Marlins, then Brad Ziegler struck out Nick Markakis after a two-out hit by Freddie Freeman in the ninth for his second save as Miami's new closer.

Sims steadied after the first, making it through six innings on 106 pitches. The right-hander allowed six hits, struck out three, walked two and hit a batter.

"He could have caved in after the first, but he didn't," Snitker said. "He regrouped and went six, which showed me a lot. Everything is going to help him for his next start and the one after that. Pitching here is nothing you can replicate in Triple-A. You learn from this."

"I had two options, either roll over and let it get ugly or go out there and try to keep us in it," Sims said. "I choose the latter. The first one really isn't an option."

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The Marlins got only two runners past first base after the first against Sims and didn't get anyone on over the final three innings against a trio of Braves relievers.

"It was one of those games where you'd like to add a run here or there to keep the momentum going, but we couldn't," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said.

NOTES: Braves INF Brandon Phillips, playing his fifth game at third, made a diving stop to take away a potential double and threw out RF Giancarlo Stanton in the third inning. ... SS Miguel Rojas led off for the Marlins with 2B Dee Gordon out of the lineup and C J.T. Realmuto got a start at first with 1B Justin Bour (strained right oblique) on the DL. Realmuto added a single to his homer and made a nice catch on a popup in shallow right field. ... The Marlins had won four straight series before facing the Braves, going 9-4, while the Braves had taken a series in five tries, going 4-13. ... The Marlins play four games in Washington beginning Monday. They are 5-4 against the Nationals this year, winning two series in Miami. ... The Braves are idle Monday before playing Philadelphia twice to end an eight-game homestand. ... Atlanta is 2-9 against the Phillies, losing all seven games in Philadelphia.

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