The visiting Miami Marlins hit three home runs to back the stellar pitching of rookie Sixto Sanchez and defeated the Atlanta Braves 8-0 on Tuesday.

The Marlins (19-18) have won the first two games of the three-game series to clinch their first series win against Atlanta in three years. Atlanta (24-18) has lost four of its last five games.

Miami hit three homers in a game for only the third time this year. Matt Joyce hit a solo homer, his second, in the second inning. Jorge Alfaro added a solo shot in the third, his first. Garrett Cooper hit a two-run homer, his third, in the fourth. Cooper, who had been 0-for-9 on the road trip, was 2-for-5 with three RBIs.

That was all the support needed for Sanchez (2-1), the team's top-rated prospect. In making his fourth career start, he pitched six-plus shutout innings and lowered his ERA to 1.80. Sanchez allowed three hits, one walk and struck out six.

Four relievers combined to finish the final three innings and combine for the shutout. It was only the third time Atlanta has been blanked, the others on strong starts by New York's Jacob deGrom and Philadelphia's Jake Arrieta. It was Miami's fifth shutout of the season.

Atlanta got another short effort from its starting pitcher. Kyle Wright (0-4) was only able to pitch four innings and allowed five runs on seven hits, two walks and four strikeouts.

A positive sign for Atlanta was the return of reliever Jacob Webb. He had missed the entire season with a right shoulder strain. He allowed two unearned runs in two innings.

The Marlins added more insurance in the seventh inning on Cooper's RBI single and tacked on two more in the ninth on a single by Brian Anderson and a run-scoring double play.

The Braves continued to struggle with runners in scoring position. They left the bases loaded in the seventh and were 0-for-4 with runners in scoring position.

The Marlins are now 11-1 when they score at least five runs. Miami improved to 17-9 on the road, the most wins in the majors.

--Field Level Media