• Preview
• Recap
• Bleachers

Late homers lift Marlins over Braves

Jun 4, 2008 - 11:26 PM By Phil Foley PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

ATLANTA (Ticker) -- On a day that the Atlanta Braves learned that their future Hall of Fame closer is out for the season, one of his understudies blew the save.

Mike Rabelo and Hanley Ramirez both hit two-run homers in a four-run ninth inning Wednesday as the Florida Marlins rallied for a 6-4 victory over the Braves.

Ramirez hit a pair of home runs, also belting a solo shot off Atlanta starter Tom Glavine in the third inning.

"We have been struggling a lot," Ramirez said. "We needed to wake up the team one way or the other. Everybody's smiling in here. I'm happy."

There weren't many smiles in the other locker room after the Braves were dealt a serious blow earlier Wednesday when John Smoltz revealed that he would undergo exploratory arthroscopic surgery on his barking right shoulder.??

The procedure, which will sideline the 41-year-old legend for at least the rest of the 2008 campaign, will be performed by renowned surgeon Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Alabama next Tuesday.

Smoltz was expected to anchor Atlanta's relief corps prior to the season-ending injury. He pitched on Monday and probably would have been available Wednesday if not for the shoulder injury.

"He's been our stopper in more ways than one," longtime teammate Chipper Jones said. "He's been the ace of our staff, he's been the stopper in the bullpen. It leaves a huge hole.

"I think everyone is a little down because there was a (feeling) that he'd be bolstering the back half of our bullpen. You saw that the bullpen broke down today. It's always good to have an experienced guy at the end."

With Rafael Soriano, who is working his way back from a right elbow injury, notching the save on Tuesday, Atlanta manager Bobby Cox turned to Manny Acosta (3-3) on Wednesday.?? He couldn't deliver.

Cody Ross led off the ninth with a single before Rabelo's blast tied the game.?? Pinch hitter Jorge Cantu followed with a one-out double before Ramirez crushed Acosta's 1-2 offering into the left-center field bleachers to put the Marlins ahead.

"You have to wait for a mistake," Ramirez said. "It was a slider."

"Acosta had been lights out," Cox said. "I think every time he threw a breaking ball, it got hit hard. He just didn't have control of that today."

Ramirez's second multi-homer game of the season and the sixth of his career could not have come at a better time for the struggling Marlins, who won for only the second time in their last eight games. Florida lost the first two games of the series despite taking leads into the eighth each time.

"We did some things we haven't done in the last two games," Marlins manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "We added some runs. We battled. We needed to get our bats hot again."

Justin Miller (2-2) hurled two scoreless innings to record the win.?? Kevin Gregg, who blew the save on Monday against Atlanta, hurled a scoreless ninth to record his 11th save.

"With our offense, we're always ready," Gregg said. "Anytime you score runs, that gives you a boost."

Florida's late rally robbed Glavine, Atlanta's other future Hall of Famer, of his 306th career win. The southpaw, who became the 24th pitcher in the majors to record 2,600 strikeouts after punching out Jeremy Hermida in the first, allowed two runs and six hits over five frames.

However, most of Glavine's thoughts were with the health of his good friend and golf buddy after the game.

"I'm a little mad," Glavine joked. "I was supposed to come here and be the No. 3 guy and play golf. Those days are gone. On a personal note, I am sad. You keep your fingers crossed and hope that they fix it and that John has the desire to come back."

Florida took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI single by Mike Jacobs before Greg Norton, who drove in the game-winning run in Atlanta's come-from-behind 5-4 win on Tuesday, tied the contest with a run-scoring single in the bottom of the frame.

Kelly Johnson and Jeff Francoeur each drove in runs off Florida starter Mark Hendrickson in the second before Ramirez's homer cut the deficit to 3-2 in the third.?? Rookie Josh Anderson plated Omar Infante with a single to restore the two-run lead in the sixth.

Gonzalez was ejected in the top of the eighth inning by first base umpire Adrian Johnson for arguing a call at the base.

Replays showed that Jacobs appeared to easily beat the throw to first. But Johnson - after initially signaling a safe call - quickly changed it to an out call.?? A livid Jacobs was restrained by first base coach Andy Fox before Gonzalez charged to first base to take up the argument.

"I saw (Jacobs) was arguing," Gonzalez said. "I was just trying to protect Jake and made sure he stayed in the game. I'd rather have him in the game than me."

The major's leading hitter Jones, who leads baseball with a .409 batting average, was given the afternoon off.?? Atlanta is 0-5 when its best hitter is not in the lineup.

"We played good enough to win today," Jones said. "(We) had a blowup in the ninth. It happens from time-to-time. It's a crazy game. Apparently, you don't want to have the lead going into the ninth or the eighth (in this series)."