MIAMI -- You'll have to excuse the postgame celebration -- but the weight off their shoulders was worth the exuberance after the Braves snapped a nine-game skid to open the 2016 season with a 6-3 win over the Marlins at Marlins Park on Friday.
The Braves overcame a 3-0 deficit with six runs over the seventh and eighth innings, and Arodys Vizcaino nailed it down with a four-out save, completing 4 2/3 innings of shutout relief from five Braves relievers.
"It's a great feeling," said Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez. "[Before the game], we talked about it. And I told them, 'It's not going to be a three-run homer. It's going to be a little thing to get us going.'
"It was a couple of hit-by-pitches [in the four-run eighth inning] that got us going. [Tyler] Flowers had a great at-bat [single] and a couple of hit batters [A.J. Pierzynski and Freddie Freeman], and here we go. We put up a big number, and we won the game."
The Braves also stopped a seven-game slide to the Marlins in the process with Vizcaino punctuating the team effort.
"I don't like putting players in position where they may hurt themselves," Gonzalez said. "Not that he got hurt, but Vizcaino throwing 35 pitches in the 10th game of the season -- it doesn't sit well with me."
Vizcaino extended his scoreless streak to 13 2/3 innings over 15 games dating back to Sept. 15 of last season. Since the start of last season, 37 of his 41 appearances have been scoreless. His first career save was last season vs. Miami.
"A Major League win is tough to get," Gonzalez said. "Not to quote anybody in politics, but Joe the Plumber is going to read the paper tomorrow and go, 'Oh, the Braves won by three.' But if you watch the game, it was like the Braves won by three, but it was like a three-ulcer night.
"But it is what it is. It's hard to win a Major League game, so when you do win, you've got to appreciate it."