Marlins' key takeaways from Braves series

MIAMI -- At the most difficult time of the season, the Marlins are banking on their veterans to do their part in maintaining stability on a young squad going through some growing pains.

It was more of the same on Sunday in the series finale, as the Braves pushed across two runs in the 10th inning, and held on for a 3-1 victory at Marlins Park.

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The Marlins were swept in the three games, and went 1-5 on the homestand, while their record fell to an MLB-worst 9-24.

“I think the mindset is there,” veteran third baseman Martín Prado said. “I think the intent is there. I see guys just talking about hitting, having an approach, and having an idea of what we're going to do as a team. We haven't been consistent as a team, with at-bats.”

Manager Don Mattingly noted that he is leaning on players like Prado, Neil Walker, Curtis Granderson and Sergio Romo to make sure the players don’t get too far down.

“We do have enough guys, I think, who understand exactly where we're at right now, and what you have to do to change it, and how you move forward,” Mattingly said. “We're better than this, I think, in general. We have to find a way where we understand who we are as hitters, and continue to be aggressive, prepare and get better.

“We are what we are as far as personnel. We have to get better.”

The Braves broke through off Miami’s bullpen after Pablo López threw six shutout innings. In the 10th inning, Ender Inciarte sliced an RBI double to left field, and Charlie Culberson lifted a sacrifice fly off Tayron Guerrero for the second run.

Miami was limited to one run on six hits. Brian Anderson’s RBI single in the eighth inning made it 1-1.

“When you have the starting pitchers keeping the games close, that's their part of the game,” Prado said. “And our part of the game is what we can do to score runs for them. I think we haven't put everything together, the whole package. I truly believe that when we complete that package, and we come to the field, and the pitchers are doing their stuff, we play good defense, and we start scoring runs -- a lot of good things are going to start happening for us.”

The Marlins are trying to play through the tough start, and in many ways, Sunday’s loss was a microcosm of the season -- strong starting pitching, inconsistent relief work and a sporadic offense.

Here are three takeaways from the series:

Lopez on point

Lopez, the club hopes, had a breakthrough outing as far as working deeper into games. The 23-year-old was lifted after six shutout innings, scattering three hits, with six strikeouts.

Still, the Marlins are balancing Lopez’s usage carefully while also pushing his potential. The two paths intersected on Sunday, with Miami going to the ‘pen after six innings, and 88 pitches in a scoreless game.

“That was a pretty easy one, really, the way he has struggled, deeper into games,” Mattingly said. To get out of that inning, after the fifth, I feel like it was the right time.”

Lopez’s season high is 6 1/3 innings in a win on April 23 at Cleveland. Third time through the order, however, hasn’t gone well for Lopez, who has a 9.53 ERA in those situations, per Fangraphs.

“That kid threw real good,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “He was really good. He was keeping us off-balance. His stuff was good. He's got a live arm. I really like Lopez.”

No problem with preparation

As rough as the start as been, Mattingly and staff has the club prepared and working hard.

“These guys are doing that every single day, on a daily basis,” Prado said. “Preparing. This group of guys is willing to do everything that they can to come to the field, and do whatever they can do. Knowledge. Preparation. Putting in the work.”

Manufacturing offense

Without much power, the Marlins have to do whatever it takes to manufacture some offense. Prado showed that in the fourth inning off Julio Teheran.

Prado slapped an improbable single down the first-base line. What made the hit unlikely is the fact the pitch was an elevated four-seam fastball near Prado’s eyes. Ahead in the count, 1-2, Teheran threw his 89.4 mph fastball well up in the zone.

Prado still was able to slap it down the first-base line, past first baseman Freddie Freeman. According to Statcast, the pitch was 4.09 feet off the ground, tying it for the third highest pitch turned into a hit this season. The exit velocity was just 83.4 mph, and the expected batting average (xBA) was a mere .010.

“We just have to continue to scratch and claw offensively, and get into a little more of a roll,” Walker said. “We haven't been able to do that. Once that happens, we'll be fine. It's tough to score runs when you just are not getting much traction.”