Dubón continues to be clutch, Braves beat Marlins with three-run eighth

But Dubón, now hitting .455 with 17 RBI when there are two outs and runners in scoring position, placed a ball in between first and second that first baseman Christopher Morel fielded — but then looked up only to find none of his teammates covering any base.

“You gotta come through in that situation,” Dubón said. “That was our best chance right there to get ahead. I was just trying to just bring the run in no matter what. Put it in play, good things happen. At the beginning (of the at-bat), yeah, I was looking for a certain pitch. Then after that I’m like, ‘I got my two swings, OK, I gotta put this ball in play somehow, somehow. Gotta see the ball and try to put it in the outfield.’”

Matt Olson added some insurance by chopping a two-run single to left, putting the Braves ahead by three. Olson went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks and drove in three.

Ha-Seong Kim, 1-for-22 to start the season before his at-bat in the ninth, lined an RBI single in the top of the final inning to pad the Braves’ lead.

Robert Suarez shut down the Marlins (22-27) with a scoreless eighth, and closer Raisel Iglesias pushed his scoreless innings streak to 27 1/3 innings by pitching the ninth.

The Braves avoided what would have been their third losing streak of the season. They improved to 3-0 after being shutout in the previous game, 13-3 following a loss and 27-0 when leading after eight innings.

“It’s baseball. Sometimes we come and get struck in the mouth, sometimes we come and play the baseball we’ve been playing all year,” Dubón added. “You got ups and downs and it’s gonna happen. That’s why you play 162.”

Braves’ starter Martín Pérez, who had not made a start since May 6, gave up three first-inning runs but battled back to complete five innings. He struck out a career-high 10, quite the feat for the left-hander who made his MLB debut 14 years ago next month and who has now pitched in 335 career games.

“I think the ball was moving a lot today, especially my changeup wasn’t carrying too much to the inside part of the strike zone. Overall, everything was good,” Pérez said. “I think (catcher) Sandy (León) did a great job calling pitches. I think everything started changing more when we talked about going to the breaking ball more, too. But overall it was a good game and good to get back on track.”

Didier Fuentes got the first two outs of the sixth before Dylan Lee (2-0) struck out Marlins catcher Joe Mack to end the frame. Lee got out of a two-on, one-out jam in the seventh with a strikeout and soft fly to left to keep the score square and precede the decisive eighth inning.

And after trailing 4-2 early Tuesday, and having lost by 12 on Monday, that eighth inning felt really good.

“I feel like we just have a good ability to kind of take every day for its own,” Olson said. “Obviously, terrible loss (Monday). You look at what went wrong, but it’s not something you can sit and dwell on. Everybody showed up today with the same, normal energy and wanted to come in and get a win. Coming back from being down and doing it is good.”

Unlike Monday’s 12-0 defeat, the Braves would not be held scoreless Tuesday.

Ozzie Albies drove in a run with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly to right in the first, then Michael Harris II guided an RBI base hit to center with two outs to put the Braves ahead 2-0.

Xavier Edwards got the Marlins one of those runs right back immediately by smashing a 1-0 pitch from Pérez 385 feet out to left.

Pérez nearly got through the first inning, after an infield single followed Edwards’ home run, with two strikeouts. But a two-out walk to Esteury Ruiz brought Kyle Stowers to the plate and the Marlins right fielder pulled a first-pitch sinker into the right field corner, scoring two and giving the Marlins a 3-2 lead.

A lead-off walk by Pérez to Otto Lopez came back to haunt Pérez in the third, as lead-off walks often do. Lopez would score later in the inning on a one-out sacrifice fly to center and the Marlins went up 4-2.

Marlins reliever Andrew Nardi, a lefty, was called upon with one out and Ronald Acuña Jr. on second in the fifth. Nardi’s first pitch to Olson was banged into the gap in right for an RBI double getting the Braves within a run.

Harris tied the game in the sixth with a first-pitch, 421-foot home run to center field. It was Harris’ ninth home run of the season.

In the top half of that inning, Pérez escaped a second-and-third pickle with a strikeout, his 10th of the day that Venezuelan and let out a celebratory scream on the mound.

“I think one of the biggest keys for the game was the last inning: second and third, one out and was able to get that guy out. After that (Harris) hit a home run and we kept the game close,” Pérez said. “That was a big moment for us. I think holding the game right there was big for us, especially for me, to be out there after (13) days was my last (start). To do this kind of job is big for me.”

On a bullpen day for the Marlins, Braxton Garrett tossed the first three innings and settled in after giving up the two runs in the first inning. Anthony Bender recorded four outs and was replaced in the fifth by Nardi who allowed the RBI double to Olson and homer to Harris.

Michael Petersen got the final out of the sixth and worked a scoreless seventh despite two walks. Faucher (4-3) started the eighth and was the first pitcher out of the Miami pen to falter.