Marlins starting pitcher Josh Johnson took a no-hitter into the eighth inning as Florida shut down the Braves and evened the series with a 5-1 win.
Johnson had a no-hitter through 7.1 innings before giving up a one-out single to Freddie Freeman that blooped over Greg Dobbs' head down the third base line. At 109 pitches, he was immediately pulled after the hit. Marlins manager Edwin Rodriguez had confidence in Johnson's ability to finish the game if it remained a no-hitter despite the pitch count, but it wasn't to be.
Johnson walked three and struck out nine. He never allowed a Braves batter to reach second base.
The Marlins tacked on five runs off Braves starter Tim Hudson in the first three innings. Chris Coghlan led the charge with three hits, including a double, and two RBI. Johnson and Hanley Ramirez added a RBI single apiece. Logan Morrison capped the scoring in the third with a solo homer.
Hudson allowed five runs on seven hits in six innings, walking two and striking out two. He induced 17 ground balls to two fly balls while recording zero line drives. He had a mix of hard hit balls and soft grounders, with most of them being soft grounders in the first couple innings. Five runs is never a good thing, but it was about the best five-run outing you could have.
Cristhian Martinez pitched two scoreless innings in relief. George Sherrill followed with a scoreless ninth.
The Braves' lone run came on a Chipper Jones solo homer in the ninth. The RBI was his 1,500th for his career. He is ranked 51st on the all-time list and is nine away from Mickey Mantle for 50th.
For more on the series, Braves fans check out Talking Chop and Marlins fans check out Fish Stripes.