Braves battle Marlins seeking record-tying 15th straight win

The Atlanta Braves' win streak has already helped the club open a sizeable lead atop the National League East. Another victory and it will equal a franchise record.

The Braves look to record their Atlanta-record tying 15th straight win on Saturday night when they resume a three-game series versus the Miami Marlins.

Atlanta has put together its longest string of consecutive victories since a 15-game run from April 16-May 2, 2000. That is the longest winning streak in the history of the franchise since it moved to Atlanta from Milwaukee ahead of the 1966 season.

After sweeping each of their previous four series following a loss on July 25, the Braves kept up their winning ways with Friday's 5-0 victory, plating four runs in the opening inning.

Chris Johnson hit a three-run homer, while Justin Upton and Brian McCann added solo shots as Atlanta maintained a 15 1/2-game edge for the top spot in the division and improved baseball's best home record to 39-15.

Upton hit his sixth homer of August and is batting .426 with 14 RBI over Atlanta's winning streak, while Johnson has posted a .382 average over his last 17 games. He leads the NL in hitting at .338.

Brandon Beachy took the run support and ran with it, logging eight scoreless innings in just his third start since undergoing Tommy John surgery last June. He yielded three hits and one walk.

"I commanded my fastball and changeup pretty well," Beachy said. "I still have a lot of room for improvement with the curveball, and especially the slider. Fortunately, I was able to command the other two well enough to where I can get by and continue to work on the others and piece it all together."

Jacob Turner was charged for all five runs -- four earned -- on five hits over five frames in the Marlins' sixth straight loss. They have plated just 12 runs over the skid, blanked twice, and were shut out for the 14th time this season.

"They've obviously been playing good baseball," said Turner, who had allowed just three home runs in 12 starts coming into the game. "(I tried to) go out there and match them."

Christian Yelich notched one of Miami's four hits and is batting .405 over a nine-game hitting streak.

The Marlins have lost seven of 10 meetings with the Braves this season.

Miami will look to supply some offense tonight for Nathan Eovaldi, who is 0-2 over his last four starts with his club failing to score a single run over that time while he was in the game.

Eovaldi has yielded just three runs over his last three starts, spanning 19 innings, and is coming off a 2-0 setback to Cleveland on Sunday. He allowed a run on seven hits and a walk over a season-high seven innings, featuring a fastball that reached 100 mph in the game.

"It's one inning at a time, one batter at a time," Eovaldi told his club's website afterwards. "Just trying to attack and just put up zeroes, really. If we score runs, that's good. I just hope we win the game."

The 23-year-old righty has put his team in position to win more often than not this season as eight of his nine outings have been quality starts. He is 2-2 with a 3.19 earned run average and 0-1 with a 3.68 ERA in four previous meetings with the Braves.

Rookie Alex Wood tries to pitch the Braves to a victory tonight, which would be his third straight.

Wood has allowed four runs over 13 innings during his back-to-back wins, which come after the lefty yielded four runs in 4 1/3 frames of a no-decision versus the New York Mets on July 25. He held Philadelphia to a run on two hits and a pair of walks over six frames of a 4-1 triumph on Sunday.

The 22-year-old is 2-2 with a 3.20 ERA in 19 appearances this season, four of those starts. He has faced the Marlins twice in relief, giving up three hits over three scoreless innings.