Braves 'inching forward' after Morton's gem

MIAMI -- Charlie Morton finally got a win over the Marlins this season. It took four starts, but the right-hander was on the money on Friday in the Braves’ 5-0 win at loanDepot park.

Morton came into the game winless in his three starts this season against Miami, going 0-1 with a 7.63 ERA (13 ER in 15 1/3 IP). But he turned in a very efficient seven-inning effort and got just enough offense to lift the Braves to the series-opening win. Morton gave up just two hits, walked two and struck out seven. He threw 59 of his 95 pitches for strikes.

“He probably could have kept going, really,” said Braves manager Brian Snitker. “His stuff was really good, and the fastball was jumping out of his hand. Everything was just really crisp tonight.”

Morton gave most of the credit to catcher Kevan Smith and the game that he called behind the plate.

“Kevan did a great job,” Morton said. “It seemed like they were sitting [on the curveball] a lot. And I don’t know if that’s true, but it seemed like it. [Smith] was calling for more changeups than normal. So we mixed that in and [was] a little more aggressive with the fastball even later in the counts, and I still had a pretty good breaking ball. I think I threw fewer breaking balls than my last outing against them.”

Getting through the sixth and seventh innings was key in turning things around for Morton.

“It was a pretty big deal and obviously, the difference between this outing and the last one,” he said.

Freddie Freeman got things rolling, belting his 18th homer of the season -- a no-doubter over the right-center-field fence -- on the first pitch he saw from Marlins starter Anthony Bass, who worked just the first inning. Miami scheduled starter Zach Thompson was a late scratch with an illness.

Freeman’s 406 foot blast, according to Statcast, left the bat at an exit velocity of 102.4 mph and a 30 degree launch angle that gave the Braves a 1-0 lead.

They tacked on a couple more in the seventh but not without some drama to kick-start it.

It wasn’t the first pitch of the first inning, but Ronald Acuña Jr. was hit by a pitch with one out in the seventh by Marlins reliever Anthony Bender. An 82.4 mph slider rode in on Acuña, who was hit for the fifth time by Marlins pitching -- the most by any team.

Acuña took a few steps towards the mound but was quickly rerouted by cooler heads, including Snitker, home-plate umpire Jordan Baker and Marlins catcher Jorge Alfaro, before it could escalate.

“Not a big deal,” Snitker said. “He hit him with a breaking ball. Everybody handled themselves fine.”

It was just last Friday that Marlins starter Pablo López was ejected after his first pitch of the game hit Acuña.

The Braves’ right fielder got his revenge, eventually scoring on an Ozzie Albies double to make it a 2-0 game. Albies had returned to the lineup after being lifted in Wednesday’s game because of a neck strain. Albies crossed the plate on an Austin Riley triple into the left-field corner for a 3-0 advantage.

“We’re trying to finish strong going into the break,” Riley said. “It’s been a grind for sure. Things are starting to fall our way.”

Snitker said he was pleased with the timely hitting, especially coming off the big production to end the Pirates’ series.

“We had a few the other day, it’s kind of nice,” Snitker said. “It’s good to see that maybe we’re inching forward.”