Braves sweep Marlins behind No. 10 prospect's quality start

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MIAMI -- The Braves headed home from Miami on Thursday evening with some mixed emotions.

On one hand, Atlanta swept Miami, getting the series finale win with a 6-3 victory on Thursday afternoon, and Marcell Ozuna had a breakout performance (6-for-13 with three homers in the series). But in the process, the Braves lost righty Kyle Wright (right shoulder inflammation) to the IL for the second time in just over a month, and headed home with Michael Harris II (jammed right knee) day to day.

“It's just really, really good [to finish the road trip 5-1],” manager Brian Snitker said. “But this was a rough road trip. I mean, the Marlins are playing really good. … This was a tough series coming in here.”

After using five bullpen arms on Wednesday following Wright’s third-inning exit, the Braves needed a boost. They got just that from Dylan Dodd, who was recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett to make a spot start.

“It was pretty crazy,” Dodd said. “I rushed over to the ballpark [after I got the call yesterday], threw, and then went straight to the airport. Ended up having a delay, and then ended up getting here -- not terrible, I think it was like 10:30 [p.m. ET] or so.”

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Dodd, Atlanta’s No. 10 prospect per MLB Pipeline, delivered a quality start while showcasing the maturity and arsenal that propelled him from High-A Rome to Triple-A last year in just 26 starts -- only nine of which came at Double-A Mississippi.

Things didn’t start off easily for Dodd against the Marlins, though. He allowed a single to Jon Berti to lead off the first inning, then gave up a two-run homer to Jorge Soler in the next at-bat. But he rebounded quickly and induced a pair of flyouts. Dodd worked through a few jams against Miami, but those only highlighted the talents that, while perhaps not entirely Major League-ready, are indicative of the southpaw’s bright future.

“Oh my god, that was awesome,” Snitker said of Dodd’s start. “Really big. … I looked up there and it's just -- he just throws strike after strike after strike. Kid's got a good future. As he matures and gets experience -- it's probably not the last time we'll see him this year, so that was really big for us and the bullpen. He left us in really good shape to play a game tomorrow.”

“He had second and third, nobody out and [he] stranded them, kept us there,” catcher Sean Murphy said. “That was huge. That was great -- a lot of maturity. He didn't let it get too fast and snowball on him, and he just kept pitching and he minimized and did great.”

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Murphy was describing the fifth inning, when Dodd allowed his first walk to lead off the inning, then gave up a single and an RBI double to the top of the order. That could rattle anyone, but Dodd held his own. He induced a pair of flyouts to his corner outfielders, who have such powerful arms they were able to keep speedster and reigning stolen-base champ Jon Berti on third base.

“He just throws another strike,” Snitker said. “He doesn't get rattled or anything, and a pretty good hitter he gave up a homer to [in the first inning]. I noticed that in the spring -- you might get whacked around, but he comes right back and gets in the strike zone. So that was really impressive, and it was a huge, huge lift for us today.”

Dodd gave up three runs on eight hits and three walks over six innings. That’s deceptive though, because Dodd didn’t issue a walk until the fifth inning, which only happened after Peyton Burdick worked an 11-pitch at-bat.

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Part of Dodd’s ability to generate results is because he can throw strikes. He had a 62% first-pitch-strike rate against the Marlins; MLB average is 60.6%, and entering Thursday, the average for Braves starters was 61.4%. Dodd was successfully getting to two-strike counts (he got ahead with two strikes 12 times), but he wasn’t getting that third swing-and-miss. So back to work he goes.

“I think for me to really get a lot better, I think it comes to getting more swing and miss,” Dodd said. “I do a pretty good job of attacking the zone and filling it up and getting guys to 0-2, but recently I've been struggling to get the third swing and miss.”

“It's good building blocks,” Murphy said. “And good stuff -- he can learn a lot from that.”

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