Braves dominate Marlins in 9-1 laugher of a win

MIAMI, FLORIDA - MAY 20: Dominic Smith of the Atlanta Braves hits a three run home run during the sixth inning against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on May 20, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Carmen Mandato/Getty Images) | Getty Images Thanks to another big night at the plate (including huge hits from Dominic Smith and Austin Riley) for Atlanta’s lineup and a dominant outing from Chris Sale, the Atlanta Braves were able to take firm control of the series against the Miami Marlins as they sauntered to a comfortable 9-1 victory. In the preview for this one, I expressed a tiny bit of concern at the fact that the Braves had not given Chris Sale a ton of run support over his previous two starts.

All of that concern was washed away like the waves on South Beach nearby as Atlanta absolutely tagged Janson Junk in this one. I did mention that there was a possibility that the Braves were catching Junk at a good time and as it turned out, Atlanta was indeed able to extend Junk’s misery. The Marlins actually did go ahead first in this one with a sacrifice fly from Heriberto Hernández plating Xavier Edwards but that ended up being as good as it got for Miami as the Braves eventually responded at the first time of asking.

Once the second inning rolled around, Austin Riley came up to the plate with two on and one out and he got a curveball that he liked from Junk that was right in the zone and begging to be crushed. Riley didn’t miss it and hit it onto the grassy batters’ eye in center field for a big three-run shot that put the Braves ahead by two. The Marlins nearly responded in their half of the second inning after Leo Jiménez got a hold of a four-seamer and sent it flying.

Had Jiménez hit it a bit harder, it may have gone for a dinger. Instead, Michael harris II was eventually able to get under it and make a spectacular jumping catch in order to prevent it from finding the grass — either in the outfield or past the fence. From that point forward, Chris Sale got into the ol’ rocking chair and the Marlins couldn’t do much to him after that.