The Braves got strong work from their pitching staff in Miami on Friday night. What they couldn’t get was anything going at the plate.
Atlanta mustered only one hit in a 3-0 loss to the Marlins, with right-hander Eury Pérez carving through the lineup for the first complete game and first shutout of his career. Pérez punched out eight, issued one walk and faced just two over the minimum while the Braves’ offense stayed quiet from start to finish.
The only hit came in the sixth, when Sean Murphy singled to break up the no-hit bid. Miami wiped that out right away with a double play, and that was that for Atlanta’s offense.
That lack of support wasted a sharp overall outing from Ray Kerr and Grant Holmes, who were both working in roles that could matter again if the Braves are mapping out postseason plans.
Kerr, making his first start of the season as an opener, ran into trouble immediately when the first two Marlins reached on singles. He got out of the inning without damage, then settled in and retired eight of his final nine batters.
The only other runner he allowed was a leadoff walk in the second, and that too disappeared on a double play. Kerr finished with three scoreless innings.
Holmes, who improved to 10-6, followed and handled the middle of the game until the seventh, when Miami finally broke through. After allowing two hits and three walks across his first three innings, he gave up a solo homer to Marlins catcher Joe Mack with one out in the seventh for the game’s first run.
Didier Fuentes took over in the eighth and had a rough night, giving up two runs on five hits. That matched the most hits he has allowed since an April relief appearance at Washington, when he gave up seven hits and four runs.
Miami strung together its damage quickly in that eighth inning. The first five Marlins batters all reached with hits, though Fuentes did record the first two outs on a baserunning mistake and a pickoff at second. Heriberto Hernandez drove in a run with a single after Jakob Marsee opened the inning with a triple, and Griffin Conine finished the scoring with another solo homer.
Pérez went back out for the ninth even as he neared 100 pitches, and he finished the job. He retired Murphy, Drake Baldwin and Ronald Acuña Jr. in order, ending his night at 105 pitches - six shy of a Maddux.
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