ATLANTA – Florida led off a game with back-to-back homers for the first time in franchise history, Chris Volstad pitched eight strong innings and the Marlins romped to a 7-1 victory Friday night over the slumping Atlanta Braves.
The National League East leaders lost their fourth game in a row, their worst slump since a nine-game skid in April. The last two losses have been especially ugly: Atlanta squandered a 10-1 lead at Colorado and fell 12-10, then got blown out by the Marlins, who have won eight of 10.
Cameron Maybin hit the first pitch of the game into the left-field seats, ending Tommy Hanson’s streak of 47 2/3 innings without giving up a homer. But Florida was just getting started against the right-hander, who had endured a series of tough-luck losses but got just what he deserved in this one.
The next guy up, Logan Morrison, drove a 3-2 pitch into the center-field seats off Hanson (8-10). It was the first career homer for Morrison, coming off a big series in New York, where his cancer-stricken father got to see him play big league games in person for the first time.
Hanson gave up two more runs in the second, including a run-scoring single to Volstad. A botched play by left fielder Eric Hinske – he lost a routine fly ball in the lights, then made a high throw to third for an error – led to an unearned run that made it 5-0 in the third.