Matt Mervis homers twice as Marlins shut out Braves
Cal Quantrill pitched five shutout innings and Matt Mervis hit a pair of home runs to help the visiting Miami Marlins beat the Atlanta Braves 4-0 on Saturday and even their three-game series at a game apiece.
Quantrill (1-1) allowed four hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out four to earn his first career victory over the Braves in three tries.
Mervis was 3-for-5 with his first two home runs of the season and drove in three runs.
Ronny Henriquez, Anthony Veneziano, Calvin Faucher and Anthony Bender covered the final four innings to complete Miami's first shutout of the season.
The losing pitcher was A.J. Smith-Shawver (0-2), who worked 4 2/3 innings and allowed three runs on seven hits while striking out six and walking three.
The Atlanta bats, which had a season-high 16 hits and 10 runs on Friday, went quiet on Saturday. The Braves totaled only seven hits and were shut out for the third time this season.
Miami nearly ran itself out of a rally in the first inning. Xavier Edwards led off with a double but was thrown out trying to tag up to third base by left fielder Bryan De La Cruz after making an over-the-shoulder catch of Kyle Stowers' fly ball.
But Otto Lopez walked and Mervis hit a first-pitch fastball over the brick wall in right field for a 2-0 lead.
The Marlins tacked on a run in the fourth inning as Derek Hill singled, stole second base and scored on a single by Liam Hicks.
Mervis delivered his second home run with two outs in the seventh inning off reliever Jose Suarez.
The Braves' best opportunity to score came in the eighth as Stuart Fairchild tripled to left field to lead off the inning. But the Braves were unable to push the run across. Atlanta was 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position.
--Field Level Media