Another strong start for Urena
Right-hander is firstMarlin to 10 victories
ATLANTA — This time, nobody overshadowed Jose Urena.
The Miami Marlins’ right-hander held the Atlanta Braves to one run in six innings in a win Sunday, days after his best start of the year — eight sharp innings against the Washington Nationals — turned into a footnotewhenGio Gonzalez nearly threwa no-hitter.
But on a day when he didn’t allow a baserunner until the fourth and didn’t allow a run until the sixth, Urena picked up his 10th win, the first Marlin to reach that mark this season.
“He just continues on,” manager Don Mattingly said. “For themost part, you know you’re going to get a good outing, and he’s been that guy.”
The Braves challenged Urena in the fourth, when Freddie Freeman followed Ender Inciarte’s leadoff double with a one-outwalk. Urena got NickMarkakis to ground into a double play to escape the jam.
“You keep the ball on the ground. Now you have men at first and second, so let’s go. Give the ball to [shortstop Miguel] Rojas, and let’s go,” Urena said.“We just focused to get that groundball and get out of the inning.”
Atlanta had three hits and onewalk againstUrena, striking out three times — including Freeman swinging at a slider to end the sixth, drawing a spinning fist pump from Urena as he exited.
Urena could have lasted longer, too. He finished the sixth at 73 pitches, butMattingly said he wanted to go with left-hander Jarlin Garcia for the seventh, when a couple of left-handed hitters were due to bat for the Braves. Garciahada perfect, 12-pitch inning.
It helped, Urena said, that theMarlins picked up a four-run lead before he even had to take the mound.
“That is the best thing that canhappento a starting pitcher, when … your team takes care of you like that,” Urena said. “You just have to go out there and do your thing.”
After starting the year in the bullpen as a long reliever, Urena has a case to be theMarlins’ best starter. His ERA dropped to 3.70 Sunday, edging Dan Straily’s 3.77. They have matching 1.19WHIPs.
“He’s been good. He’s awesome,” Marcell Ozuna said. “He’s beenworking on his off-speed. He’s got a good fastball. He has to worry about the off-speed, sometimes he hangs it a little bit. When he’s working good, he’s tough to hit.”
Urena didn’t seem particularly impressed by his 10-win milestone.
“We’ll try to get 10 more,” he said. That is the goal.”
If he stays on schedule, Urena will make about 10 more starts this season.
Odds& ends
Ozuna’s three-run home run in the first inning Sunday brought him to 87 RBI. This season he has set new career-highs in home runs (26) and RBI. …
An unusual stretch of the Marlins’ schedule has led to a quirky start to left-hander Chris O’Grady’s career. His third and fourth startswere both against the Reds. His fifth and sixth (scheduled for Monday), both against theNationals. …
In dropping two of three over theweekend, theMarlins snapped their four-series winning streak. They hadn’t lost onesince hosting the Philadelphia Phillies on July 17-19.