Hurston Waldrep threw six strong innings and Michael Harris II broke the game open with a three-run homer to lead the Atlanta Braves to a 7-1 win over the visiting Miami Marlins on Saturday in the first game of a day-night doubleheader.
The contest featured the debut of Jen Pawol, the first woman to umpire an MLB game. Pawol, 48, was brought up from Triple-A to work three games this weekend and handled duties at first base without incident. She is scheduled to work Game 2 of the doubleheader at third base, then call balls and strikes in Sunday’s game.
Waldrep (2-0), rated as the team’s No. 4 overall prospect, was impressive in his first start of the season. The 23-year-old allowed one run on four hits while striking out six and walking one.
Harris connected with a fastball from reliever George Soriano for a 409-foot shot into the Braves’ bullpen in right-center field in the seventh to complete a four-run outburst. It was the 11th homer of the year for Harris, who went 2-for-4 and is batting .347 (33-for-95) over his last 24 games.
Waldrep left the game after allowing a leadoff single to Liam Hicks in the seventh, but Pierce Johnson entered and finished the scoreless inning. Dylan Lee worked a 1-2-3 eighth and Tyler Kinley worked around an error in the ninth.
Miami starter Ryan Gusto (7-5) made his first start for the Marlins after being picked up from Houston at the trade deadline. He pitched six innings and allowed three runs on four hits and two walks while matching his career high with eight strikeouts.
The Braves took the lead with two runs in the second. Sean Murphy was hit by a pitch to open the inning, moved to third on Harris’ double and scored on Ozzie Albies’ groundout. Eli White drove in Harris with a sacrifice fly.
Atlanta took a 3-0 lead in the third when Drake Baldwin singled with the bases loaded and nobody out. Gusto, though, retired the next three batters to prevent further damage.
Miami seemed poised to get on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth when Agustin Ramirez belted a fly ball deep to left field. But Jurickson Profar kept the Marlins scoreless by reaching high over the fence to take away a home run.
The Marlins scored one run in the sixth after Xavier Edwards, playing on his 26th birthday, lined a run-scoring single to left to score Javier Sanoja.
–Field Level Media
