Braves rally for six runs in ninth, beat Marlins 10-9 and erase demons of huge blown lead against Cubs last month

The Atlanta Braves are growing up way faster than anyone could have expected. Roughly five weeks after they blew a 10-2 lead against the Cubs, they mounted a furious comeback of their own on Sunday, scoring six runs in the ninth to defeat the Miami Marlins 10-9.

The Braves trailed by six twice…

The Marlins exploded for six runs in the top of the fourth inning and led 6-0 through five-and-a-half innings. That’s when the Braves started their initial comeback. Back-to-back RBI singles from Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis scored Ozzie Albies and Ronald Acuña Jr., respectively, and those two runs chased Marlins starter Wei-Yin Chen.

The Marlins struck right back in the top of the seventh, with a Miguel Rojas two-run blast restoring the lead to 8-2. But the Braves answered with two of their own in the home half of the inning when an Acuña Jr. single scored Johan Camargo and Charlie Culberson. After a scoreless eighth by both sides, Rojas hit his second home run of the day to extend Miami’s lead to 9-4 in the top of the ninth.

The Marlins sent Brad Ziegler to the mound to start the ninth, and he struck out Dansby Swanson to start the inning. But then Ryan Flaherty walked and Albies singled to put runners on the corners. Ziegler induced a sac fly from Acuña Jr., and the Braves were down to their last out down 9-5.

That’s when things got crazy.

Freeman reached on an infield single, and Albies scored when Rojas tried to nab Freeman on a scoop over to Ziegler covering first. That made it 9-6. Freeman then went to second on fielders’ indifference, and Markakis singled him home to make it 9-7 and drive Ziegler from the game.

In came Tayron Guerrero with a runner on first and two outs. Markakis stole second and Tyler Flowers walked. Kurt Suzuki, called in to pinch hit, singled home Markakis to make it 9-8. Guerrero then issued a wild pitch to advance both runners and walked Camargo to load the bases. That’s when Swanson, who had made the first out of the inning, came through with the game-winning knock, yanking one down the left-field line.