ATLANTA -- Dan Straily regained his old form, and after the right-hander escaped a fourth-inning jam on Friday night, he turned in seven innings in the Marlins' 2-0 victory over the Braves at SunTrust Park.
J.T. Realmuto delivered an RBI triple, and Starlin Castro added a run-scoring double in the sixth inning off Matt Wisler, providing Straily with all the support he needed in his longest outing of the season.
"Really, the seven shutout innings should be the goal every night," Straily said. "It's not just how do we get there but the process of staying committed to the game plan and trying to fill out the strike zone. And today was just about following J.T.'s fingers and getting some good defensive plays behind me."
Straily opened the season on the disabled list with a right forearm strain, and Friday marked his fourth start. In his previous three, the 29-year-old showed some rust, working as many as five innings only once.
"It's nice to see, for us and for his confidence, as well," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "I know he was excited about the year, coming into Spring Training. He was a guy fighting for that No. 1 spot. Obviously, it didn't go great out of spring. But he's bouncing back and throwing the ball well for us."
On Friday night, Straily limited the Braves to three hits, while striking out six and walking three. In the fourth inning, Atlanta threatened after Freddie Freeman walked and Nick Markakis doubled, putting runners on second and third with no outs.
"I don't know what it is," Markakis said. "[Straily] pitches well against us. He changes speeds on the ball and puts the ball where he wants it and doesn't make too many mistakes. That's what veteran pitchers do."
In the jam, Straily did his best work, retiring Tyler Flowers on a popup to second. The Marlins actually had their infield back, ready to concede a run on a ground ball. Ender Inciarte was intentionally walked to load the bases. Straily struck out Jose Bautista and got Johan Camargo on a fly ball to center to end the threat.
"It's crazy how this game works," Straily said. "Yesterday, I was sitting on the bench talking to Elieser [Hernandez] about that same situation and how you would find yourself in that situation with second and third and nobody out or bases loaded and nobody out and you just have to focus on one pitch at a time, not focus on how you got into that situation but just focus on the next pitch. And then the next day, I'm in that same exact situation and just really practice what I preach, basically."
After escaping the fourth inning, Straily retired the final 11 batters he faced, before turning the ball over to the bullpen. Brad Ziegler logged his eighth save.
"That [fourth] inning was huge for him, for obvious reasons," Realmuto said of Straily. "But just for the whole night, to be able to keep his pitch count down, and be able to execute pitches early in the count to get ahead of guys and be able to put the ball where he wants with two strikes. That team is really good with two strikes. A lot of people don't see the stats, but even when you get to two strikes, those guys are dangerous hitters. He did a great job throughout the counts to hit his spots and make his pitches."
MOMENTS THAT MATTERED
Martin Prado's single to open the sixth inning started the Marlins' lone rally off Wisler, who made a spot start. Realmuto's first triple of the season opened the scoring. Castro followed with a double to right, driving home the second run.
"Luckily, the pitching carried us tonight," Realmuto said. "We didn't have a ton of offense. We got the runs when we needed to. Three clutch hits in a row right there, which was big for us. That guy kept us off-balance early in the game really well. He threw the ball good today."
SOUND SMART
Miguel Rojas remains perfect at shortstop. Rojas has yet to make an error at the position, boasting a Major League-leading 1.000 fielding percentage. Freddy Galvis of the Padres and Jordy Mercer of the Pirates entered Friday with fielding percentages of .994. Because Rojas is so versatile, he played first base in the ninth inning, with Yadiel Rivera stepping in at shortstop during Ziegler's save.
HE SAID IT
"He definitely showed how to work deep into a game, and you do that by attacking the strike zone and minimizing pitch count. Trust your defense. I know strikeouts are very popular and not that there's never a time for it by any means, but if you're punching out six, seven, eight guys, it's hard to get into the seventh inning of a game. Sometimes, it's hard to even get to six because you're running your count a lot higher because almost every hitter seems like it's 2-2 or 3-2. Tonight, he'd get two strikes on them and keep coming after them in the zone." -- Ziegler, on Straily's night
MITEL REPLAY OF THE DAY
The throwing arm of Brian Anderson helped the Marlins get out of a potential jam in the second inning. With two outs, Camargo drove the ball into the right-field corner. Camargo tried stretching the play into a double, but he was thrown out by Anderson, who made a strong throw to Rojas. Camargo, who slid in head first, was initially called safe. But the Marlins challenged, and the call was overturned, detecting that Camargo's hand had cpme off the base.
UP NEXT
Jose Urena makes his 10th start for the Marlins at 7:10 p.m. ET on Saturday against the Braves at SunTrust Park. Last week, Urena (0-6) lost to Atlanta at Marlins Park, giving up three runs in six innings. Left-hander Sean Newcomb gets the start for the Braves.