ATLANTA — Don Mattingly recognized Garrett Cooper was scuffling. The Miami Marlins’ first baseman/designated hitter had one hit over his last five starts, a stretch that included 18 plate appearances.
So the manager keep Cooper out of the lineup Saturday against the Atlanta Braves.
“You could tell he was out of sorts a little bit,” Mattingly said. “He’s been not really himself. He was able to come out and do some early work. Hopefully that sinks in and we can get him back in there tomorrow.”
Mattingly didn’t have to wait until Sunday. Rather, just seven innings.
Cooper knocked a pinch-hit, go-ahead two-run single in the seventh inning as the Marlins beat the Braves, 9-7, in a back-and-forth, nearly four-hour game at Truist Park to even the series against the defending World Series champions. The series finale is Sunday at 1:35 p.m.
Cooper, at the plate with the bases loaded and no outs for catcher Payton Henry, made contact on a Spencer Strider sinker that was below the strike zone and deposited it into shallow right-center field. Brian Anderson and Joey Wendle scored on the play and Jon Berti moved to second, eventually scoring on a Jesus Aguilar fly out to cap a three-run inning that put Miami up for good.
It was the final highlight on a night of key offensive plays for the Marlins (6-7) — and on a night they needed it after the pitching staff gave up two separate leads to the Braves (7-9).
Jazz Chisholm Jr. had a four-hit night and was a triple shy of the cycle, hitting a home run on the first pitch of the game, a leadoff double in the fifth and singles in the sixth and ninth. Chisholm also had three RBIs and three runs scored and stole two bases.
Avisail Garcia drove in multiple runs after having just one RBI on the season entering Saturday while also recording multiple hits.
Wendle, Aguilar and Jesus Sanchez all had multi-hit nights as well, while Berti (a late addition to the lineup with Miguel Rojas dealing with flu-like symptoms) and Anderson each walked multiple times.
