MIAMI -- As Braves right-hander Touki Toussaint stood inside the visitors' clubhouse at Marlins Park on Friday afternoon, he allowed himself time to take in his surroundings.

During his sophomore and junior years at Coral Springs Christian Academy, Toussaint made the 36-plus-mile trek every other day to Miami's Little Havana neighborhood for Marlins games.

"I used to come here all the time and watch the other guys play," Toussaint said pregame. "Just to be sitting here is ... I've got to take a breath for a second."

Hours after being recalled by the Braves from Triple-A Gwinnett, the rookie right-hander didn’t have the benefit of time when he came on in relief of Kevin Gausman, who was ejected with two outs in the second inning of a 7-2 win over the Marlins.

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“Really didn’t know what was going on, then things went south,” said Toussaint, who had to warm up on the mound for the first time in his career. “Had to get ready.”

Toussaint put on a show for more than 20 family members and friends in attendance, striking out six batters over four innings of one-run ball. He provided much-needed length for the Braves after Gausman threw behind Jose Urena just 28 pitches in and got tossed.

It was a similar situation to Toussaint’s season debut on April 13. When New York chased lefty Sean Newcomb, Toussaint was thrust into action. He permitted an unearned run over six innings, with seven strikeouts and two walks in an 11-7 victory over the Mets at SunTrust Park.

On Friday, Toussaint ran into trouble in the sixth by loading the bases and falling behind, 3-0, to Rosell Herrera with one out and Atlanta ahead, 5-1. But he tightened things up, locating a 94 mph four-seam fastball on the bottom part of the zone for one of his 15 called strikes and then inducing a shallow flyout to left on the next pitch to hold the runner. Toussaint gave way to southpaw Jerry Blevins, who walked in a run before escaping further damage on a deep flyout to right.

“I was trying to get a double-play ball. He popped it out,” Toussaint said. “[Martin] Prado on third, thought he was going to go, but he didn't. [Ronald] Acuna's on him. Trying to get a ground ball right there and get out of the situation. Blevins came in and did a good job picking up a teammate.”

According to Statcast, Toussaint recorded 10 of 13 swinging strikes on his curveball. The four-seamer tallied seven of his 15 called strikes.

“He was great,” Gausman said. “He came in, looked really sharp, had a really good breaking ball, some good splits. I think he pitched pretty well with that home-plate ump back there. Pitched down in the zone, got some strikes, and [Brian McCann] did a great job back there.”

Atlanta's sixth-ranked prospect, according to MLB Pipeline, entered Friday 2-0 with a 7.04 ERA, eight walks and 13 strikeouts over four games between Gwinnett and Atlanta in 2019, as he struggled with his fastball command. In his final Major League start prior to a demotion, Toussaint surrendered seven runs on six hits, three hit batters and one walk over 1 1/3 innings on April 20 in Cleveland. That’s what made the outing even more encouraging.

According to Braves manager Brian Snitker, there’s a possibility Toussaint gets sent down to bring up an arm that can provide length -- much like the 22-year-old did with his 76 pitches.

“Touki again did a great job coming out of the 'pen,” Snitker said. “It's not an easy situation when you're down there and all of a sudden ... He seems to respond to that pretty well because he did a great job against the Mets and a great job today.

“Once he got rolling there, that fastball started having a life that I remember. The late life down, breaking ball was really good. I don't know. Some guys like that, just sit down there and then get pressed into action. That was good to see, and it was a big lift for us.”

Donaldson’s strong return

Josh Donaldson went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs from the No. 2 spot in the lineup. He had missed three straight games with a sore right calf.

“Good to get him back in there,” Snitker said. “He said his calf felt well. He's guarding a bit as far as running hard. He's going to do what he can. After missing three days to get his body back going, that's a big hit right there. But the big thing is he said it felt good, so that's good. The more he plays on it now and gets back, should be OK.”