MIAMI – The reigning World Series champions have been getting plenty of help lately from guys who weren’t around for last year’s title run.
Chadwick Tromp doubled twice, singled and drove in three runs in his first MLB action of the season, leading the Atlanta Braves over the Miami Marlins 5-2 in the opening game of a doubleheader Saturday.
Matt Olson homered, while Ronald Acuña Jr. and Robbie Grossman had two hits each for the Braves, who won for the fourth straight game – and then made it five in a row as they swept the day with a 6-2 win in the nightcap.
Recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett earlier Saturday, Atlanta starting pitcher Kyle Muller scattered two runs and three hits while striking out five batters and walking one in five innings. Immediately after Muller’s outing, the Braves returned the 24-year-old left-hander to Gwinnett.
“It’s nice to come up here when they need me and produce,” Muller said. “Now they know I’m ready whenever they need me.”
Tromp, a 27-year-old catcher who played 33 games for the San Francisco Giants over the past two seasons, was claimed off waivers by the Braves last September.
“You’re in Triple-A staying ready the whole year, then when you get called up, it’s like riding a bike, another day in the office,” Tromp said.
The Braves rallied to win Friday’s series opener with a two-run homer in the eighth by rookie center fielder Michael Harris II. Also scoring on that play was second baseman Vaughn Grissom – he led off the inning with a double – who was playing his second MLB game. He homered for his first hit when he made his debut against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.
Tromp’s two-run double with the bases loaded capped a three-run burst in the fourth inning that put Atlanta ahead 3-0 on Saturday. He experienced cramping in his left quad as he reached second base, prompting immediate attention from Atlanta’s training personnel, but he remained in the game.
Miami reduced the gap on Jesús Aguilar’s two-run homer in the bottom half. Aguilar drove a slider from Muller into the seats in left for his 14th home run of the season.
Olson – an Atlanta native who joined the Braves via a trade with the Oakland Athletics this spring – connected off Marlins starter Jesús Luzardo for a solo drive in the fifth, the first baseman’s second homer of the series and his 23rd of the season.
The Braves padded their lead on Tromp’s RBI single in the eighth. Perhaps feeling the effects of his earlier double, he stayed at first as the line drive rolled into foul territory in deep left – although he later said he thought he could have gone for the extra base.
“It was funny,” he said. “I wanted to go to second. Bring me a wheelchair.”
Jackson Stephens relieved Muller and pitched two scoreless innings, and Raisel Iglesias worked the eighth before Kenley Jansen – another offseason addition – closed with a scoreless ninth for his 26th save this year.
In his only other appearance with the Braves this season, Muller allowed seven runs in 2 2/3 innings on May 1 against the host Texas Rangers.
“It was my hometown, and Nolan Ryan and George W. Bush were there, so that really wasn’t the best,” Muller said. “This is awesome – being part of helping the team win and doing my job, it’s the best feeling.”
Miami’s Luzardo (3-5) allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings. The left-hander walked two batters and struck out six. His first walk – to Harris with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth – gave Atlanta a 1-0 lead.
“I had the chance to get out of it there,” Luzardo said. “Unacceptable.”
AP photo by Wilfredo Lee / The Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuña Jr. celebrates as he runs the bases after hitting a home run to lead off the second game of a doubleheader hosted by the Miami Marlins on Saturday.In the second matchup, Acuña homered on the first pitch of the game, Olson hit his 24th homer and Grissom also went deep for the surging Braves, whose winning streak comes after losing four of five to the New York Mets last weekend.
Atlanta is the four-time reigning champion in the National League East Division, but the Mets currently have a 5 1/2 game lead over the Braves. The Mets visit Atlanta for a four-game series starting Monday.
“They can turn the page from the rough weekend,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “These guys are playing for today.”
Acuña was removed in the seventh inning of the second game, after four at-bats, as a precaution to rest his surgically repaired right knee. The All-Star outfielder tore his ACL on the same field last July, an injury that required surgery and forced him to miss the remainder of the regular season, the postseason and the start of this season in the majors as he rehabbed.
“I feel I’ve been playing with soreness for about a week now,” Acuña said through a translator. “It comes and goes, and I’m playing through it. At this moment, I feel good.”
Acuña’s shot over the wall in center was his 26th leadoff homer as an MLB player. He also has 10 career blasts on the first pitch, including four against Miami.
Braves starter Ian Anderson, who was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett on Aug. 7 only to return temporarily as the 27th man for the doubleheader, scattered two runs in six innings. Anderson (10-6) gave up five hits, walked one batter and struck out four.
Although he reached double-digit victories in a season for the first time in his career, Anderson has struggled with his command, prompting the demotion to the minors.
“Kudos to all of the guys in this locker room; I feel I’ve had a ton of run support these last few games,” Anderson said of the double-digit milestone. “That always helps, but it’s definitely an accomplishment.”
The Marlins have lost 12 of their past 13 home games and scored 23 runs total through their first 12 games in August. They also have been held to three or fewer runs in their past 14 games, the longest stretch in the major leagues since the Chicago Cubs had a similar drought for 15 games in September 1979.
Grissom made it 3-0 with a two-run shot in the fifth. The 21-year-old hit Marlins reliever A.J. Ladwig’s first pitch over the wall in left-center for his second homer since being promoted from Double-A Mississippi earlier in the week.
Miami narrowed the deficit on Joey Wendle’s RBI single in the fifth, but the Braves responded with Olson’s solo blast in the sixth. Olson has homered in the first three games of the series.
“I’m not going up there and squaring it up every single time,” he said. “There are still some pretty poor at-bats mixed in. Nothing out of the ordinary, trying to be a little bit more grounded.”
Aguilar’s leadoff homer in the bottom half got the Marlins within 4-2 before Olson hit a two-run single in the seventh.
The Marlins loaded the bases with two outs in the ninth after Kirby Yates walked JJ Bleday and Jacob Stallings. Raisel Iglesias relieved and got the second out before walking Peyton Burdick. Pinch-hitter Garrett Cooper lined out to center for Iglesias’ 17th save this season and first with the Braves.
Tommy Nance pitched the first three innings of the planned bullpen game for Miami. Reinstated from the injured list before the second game, Nance (0-1) allowed one run and two hits, walked one batter and struck out six.
The Braves recalled right-hander Bryce Elder from Gwinnett for the second game. Elder (1-3, 5.48) will start the series finale Sunday, when the Marlins will go with left-hander Braxton Garrett (2-6, 4.02) as they try to avoid being swept.
AP photo by Wilfredo Lee / From left, Atlanta Braves outfielders Robbie Grossman, Michael Harris II and Ronald Acuña Jr. celebrate after a 5-2 win in the first game of a doubleheader against the host Miami Marlins on Saturday.