Miami has bout, a 9-3 putout, is just 4 out

ATLANTA — Marcell Ozuna delivered the power, blasting a three-run homer and driving in four runs. But it was Jose Fernandez, who provided some spark and emotion, tossing seven innings and being at the center of a seventh-inning benches-clearing incident.

When tempers settled, the Marlins held off the Braves for a 7-5 win on Wednesday. In their final game ever at Turner Field, the Marlins captured two of three in the series, and moved four games behind the Mets for the National League’s second Wild Card.

“Obviously, it was a big game because every win is big,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said after his team got back to .500 (73-73). “We get the lead early and they get four on us and then Jose settles in. Ozuna’s home run is huge for us because from there we’re able to tack on. They came back and we still continue to get a run here and run there and make it easy on us.”

Ozuna’s three-run homer off Julio Teheran was the big blast in a four-run sixth. But the Braves built an early lead with four runs in the second off Fernandez. Nick Markakis connected on a two-run homer in the inning. In the sixth, Fernandez hit Markakis with a pitch, and emotions ran high in the seventh when Jose Ramirez brushed Fernandez back with a pitch. Both benches and bullpens cleared, but nothing further materialized.

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“To me, Nick hits the ball out and then almost another one and then gets squared up,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said. “I don’t think that was an accident. When we play, I don’t feel bad blood. It’s just two teams going at it. It was a pretty hard-fought game, really. Their team is trying to get into the playoffs, and for my take on it, we’re not trying to get in the playoffs but we’re trying to win every game we play.”

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Mattingly said: “Just one of those games where guys are getting hit on both sides and things start to get a little hairy.”

Fernandez, who entered with a Major League-leading 12.8 strikeouts per nine innings, finished with a season-low three. The hard-throwing right-hander didn’t have a strikeout until he fanned Freddie Freeman to open the sixth. In his previous 27 starts, he didn’t have less than five.

“I told [Markakis], ‘Hey, man. I throw you one of the best breaking balls that I have, and you hit it out,'” Fernandez said. “‘I threw you another one and you hit the [stuffing] out of it.’ That second at-bat, I threw some good fastballs in, he was late on it. Jam. Jam. I was hoping, 2-0, throw a fastball in, he hits a popup to second base. Obviously, that was not the case. The ball slipped out of my hands, and I hit him.”

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