Tromp answers the call, uses bat to help Braves

MIAMI — The reigning World Series champions have been getting plenty of help lately from guys who weren’t around for last year’s title run.

Chadwick Tromp doubled twice, singled and drove in three runs in his first MLB action of the season, leading the Atlanta Braves over the Miami Marlins 5-2 in the opening game of a doubleheader Saturday.

Matt Olson homered and Ronald Acuña Jr. and Robbie Grossman had two hits each for the Braves, who won for the fourth straight game, then made it five in a row with a 6-2 victory to sweep the doubleheader.

Recalled from Triple-A Gwinnett earlier Saturday, Atlanta starting pitcher Kyle Muller scattered two runs and three hits while striking out five batters and walking one in five innings. Immediately after Muller’s outing, the Braves returned the 24-yearold left-hander to Gwinnett.

“It’s nice to come up here when they need me and produce,” Muller said. “Now they know I’m ready whenever they need me.”

Tromp, a 27-year-old catcher who played 33 games for the San Francisco Giants over the past two seasons, was claimed off waivers by the Braves last September.

“You’re in Triple-A staying ready the whole year, then when you get called up, it’s like riding a bike, another day in the office,” Tromp said.

The Braves rallied to win Friday’s series opener with a two-run homer in the eighth by rookie center fielder Michael Harris II. Also scoring on that play was second baseman Vaughn Grissom — he led off the inning with a double — who was playing his second MLB game. He homered for his first hit when he made his debut against the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday.

Tromp’s two-run double with the bases loaded capped a three-run burst in the fourth inning that put Atlanta ahead 3-0 on Saturday. He experienced cramping in his left quad as he reached second base, prompting immediate attention from Braves training personnel, but he remained in the game.

Miami reduced the gap on Jesús Aguilar’s two-run homer in the bottom half. Aguilar drove a slider from Muller into the seats in left for his 14th home run of the season.

Olson — an Atlanta native who joined the Braves via a trade with the Oakland Athletics this spring — connected off Marlins starter Jesús Luzardo for a solo drive in the fifth, the first baseman’s second homer of the series and his 23rd of the season.

The Braves padded their lead on Tromp’s RBI single in the eighth. Perhaps feeling the effects of his earlier double, he stayed at first as the line drive rolled into foul territory in deep left — although he later said he thought he could have gone for the extra base.

“It was funny,” he said. “I wanted to go to second. Bring me a wheelchair.”

Jackson Stephens relieved Muller and pitched two scoreless innings, and Raisel Iglesias worked the eighth before Kenley Jansen — another offseason addition — closed with a scoreless ninth for his 26th save this year.

In his only other appearance with the Braves this season, Muller allowed seven runs in 2 2/3 innings May 1 against the host Texas Rangers.

“It was my hometown, and Nolan Ryan and George W. Bush were there, so that really wasn’t the best,” Muller said. “This is awesome — being part of helping the team win and doing my job, it’s the best feeling.”

Miami’s Luzardo (3-5) allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings. The lefthander walked two batters and struck out six. His first walk — to Harris with the bases loaded and two outs in the fourth — made it 1-0.

“I had the chance to get out of it there,” Luzardo said. “Unacceptable.”