The Braves received seven shutout innings from Tommy Hanson, and he was backed by homers from Brian McCann and Jason Heyward as Atlanta won the series opener against the Marlins, 5-0.
Hanson gave up four hits - two doubles and two singles - over seven shutout innings, walking two and striking out five. He induced 11 groundouts to two flyouts. Hanson's fastball command was much sharper in his third start, painting the corner several times, including a painted fastball on the outside corner at 94 MPH for strike three in the first inning against Hanley Ramirez, and the same exact thing in the second inning against Gaby Sanchez.
Hanson's two mistakes were doubles to Mike Stanton and Logan Morrison on fastballs left over the plate, but otherwise, he was very solid; definitely his best outing so far. His velocity was also up, ranging 92-94 on his four-seamer compared to 90-92 in his previous two starts.
The Braves backed Hanson's solid outing with five runs between the third and fifth innings. Chipper Jones drove in two runs on a single and sac fly, going 1-2 with a walk. McCann and Heyward hit solo home runs as their only hits. Martin Prado went 2-4 with a double and two runs scored.
All five runs were scored off Marlins starter Chris Volstad, who lasted only 4.2 innings while giving up eight hits, including two long balls. He walked two and struck out three. Brian Sanches came in with 2.1 scoreless innings behind him.
Eric O'Flaherty gave up a hit and walk while recording just one out in the eighth. Peter Moylan followed with a force out and flyout to end the inning. Scott Linebrink ended the game with a scoreless ninth.
For more on the series, Braves fans check out Talking Chop and Marlins fans check out Fish Stripes.