Marlins continue surprising start with shutout win over Braves

MIAMI (AP) -- Scott Olsen worked quickly Tuesday night, and he was rewarded in a big way.

The left-hander pitched seven sharp innings of five-hit ball, leading the Florida Marlins to a 4-0 victory over the Atlanta Braves.

"The longer I take, the worse the results seem to be," Olsen said. "I want to make the hitter not comfortable."

Olsen (2-0) struck out three and did not walk a batter. He threw 84 pitches, 62 for strikes.

"His tempo is good. You can probably see that right away," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "And he's throwing strikes. I just thought he did his job."

Josh Willingham hit an RBI triple for the Marlins. He also stole two bases and scored once. Mike Jacobs added a pair of doubles for his fifth straight multihit game.

Atlanta starter Jair Jurrjens (1-2) gave up two runs and four hits in six innings.

"That's baseball," Jurrjens said. "You pitch some good and you lose some, and you pitch some bad and you win some.

"Maybe the next time I go out there I'll have a bad outing and win. I'm just trying to think of the positive things I did. I kept the team in the game and that's my job."

Olsen, who entered 1-4 with an 8.54 ERA against the Braves, left with a 2-0 lead. He was lifted for a pinch hitter after Alfredo Amezaga led off the seventh with a single.

That ended the third-year pitcher's chances of throwing his first career complete game.

"I felt good enough to go back out there," Olsen said. "But when you have a 2-0 lead in the seventh, you don't want your pitcher hitting. I was very satisfied coming out of the game right there."

Renyel Pinto and Kevin Gregg each pitched an inning to complete the six-hitter, Florida's first shutout since a 4-0 victory over St. Louis on July 17.

Willingham, who went 2-for-3, came in with 10 stolen bases in 326 career games.

Willingham scored the first run in the fourth when he walked with two outs, stole second and came home on Jacobs' first double. That snapped a streak of 10 consecutive Florida runs coming off homers.

"It was one of those games for a while where you had the feeling whoever scored first was going to win," Jacobs said. "It was really a good win for this team."

The Marlins increased their lead to 2-0 in the sixth when Willingham tripled to drive home Dan Uggla, who led off with a double. Florida scored twice in the eighth inning when Braves reliever Will Ohman walked pinch-hitter Wes Helms and Hanley Ramirez with the bases loaded.

"I'm not happy with the way we ended," Atlanta manager Bobby Cox said. "We were in a tight ballgame. You get one runner on in the last inning and anything can happen. We didn't keep it close."

The Braves' only threat against Olsen came in the sixth when Kelly Johnson and Yunel Escobar opened the inning with singles. But Olsen got Chipper Jones and Mark Teixeira to fly out before Jeff Francoeur grounded out to end the inning.

"They got a little bit of momentum going. I wanted to try to put a stop to it as quickly as possible," Olsen said. "And I was able to do it."

Jones, who came in leading the NL with a .408 batting average, singled in his first two at-bats and ended up 2-for-4. Johnson went 2-for-4, extending his hitting streak to 11 games.

"We came out flat tonight," Francoeur said. "We couldn't get anything started. We had a couple chances to get things started and we didn't do anything with them."

Game notes
Braves LHP Tom Glavine, who left his last start in the first inning, said his injured right hamstring was feeling better and he is hoping to pitch this weekend. Glavine is scheduled to throw from the mound Wednesday. ... Marlins SS Hanley Ramirez had his 11-game hitting streak snapped when he went 0-for-3. ... Braves starters have allowed only one home run in 68 2-3 innings, the best mark in the majors. ... RHP Buddy Carlyle, recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A Richmond, pitched in relief in the eighth inning for Atlanta and retired the only batter he faced. Carlyle took the roster spot of RHP Peter Moylan, who was placed on the 15-day disabled list retroactive to April 12.