Atlanta Braves’ Chris Johnson watches his bunt fall short during the ninth inning of a baseball game against the Miami Marlins in Miami.MIAMI – Justin Upton went 4-for-4, including his sixth home run, and Paul Maholm allowed one hit in seven sharp innings to help the Atlanta Braves spoil the Miami Marlins’ home opener Monday by winning 2-0.
The Braves earned their fourth consecutive victory and improved to 6-1, their best start since 2007. The Marlins lost their third game in a row and fell to 1-6, their worst start since 2006.
Announced attendance was 34,439, with thousands of empty seats and many tickets sold at discounted prices. Some fans pledged to stay away this season because they’re angry that owner Jeffrey Loria reverted to a frugal payroll only a year after the team opened a new ballpark built mostly with taxpayer money.
Loria watched the game from his suite, out of the view of potential boo-birds. A handful of spectators wore homemade T-shirts disparaging him, a few others had bags over their heads, and many wore jerseys of Marlins traded in the past year, including Hanley Ramirez, Jose Reyes and Josh Johnson.
The only holdover from the Marlins’ opener a year ago who was in the lineup was Giancarlo Stanton, who went 0-for-1 with three walks to drop his average to .174.