Marlins 9, Braves 0
Jose Fernandez gave up two hits in eight shutout innings and Giancarlo Stanton blasted a two-run homer as host Miami cruised in the opener of a three-game series.
Fernandez (4-1), who tied a career high with 14 strikeouts in eight shutout innings April 22 against the Braves, struck out eight with two walks, dropping his ERA to 1.59 and taking over the major-league strikeout lead with 55. Stanton connected on his eighth homer of the season to cap a three-run third, and Ed Lucas went 3-for-4 after missing the Marlins’ first 25 games with a broken hand.
Alex Wood (2-4), who struck out 11 in taking the loss against Fernandez last week, gave up a season-high seven runs on 10 hits with five strikeouts in five-plus innings. The Braves finished with three hits - by Jason Heyward, Ramiro Pena and Ryan Doumit - while seeing a four-game winning streak halted.
Wood ran into trouble with two outs and nobody on in the third, allowing Christian Yelich’s triple and Lucas’ RBI single before Stanton lined a 1-0 pitch over the wall in right to give Miami a 3-0 advantage. Marcell Ozuna singled home two runs in the sixth and Adeiny Hechavarria’s two-run double later in the frame broke open the contest.
Atlanta manager Fredi Gonzalez sought to give Fernandez a different look after the right-hander’s dominant performance in Atlanta, starting four position players off his bench. The strategy didn’t work as Fernandez retired the first seven hitters he faced, Tyler Pastornicky was thrown out at home to end the third and Atlanta left runners on in the fourth and fifth.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Gonzalez stacked his lineup with left-handed hitters; Pastornicky, Doumit, Pena and Jordan Schafer combining to go 2-for-13. … Jarrod Saltalamacchia added three hits for Miami, which finished with 13 overall. … Stanton drove in two runs to give him 31 on the season, a franchise record for RBIs in the season’s first month.