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PHI@ATL: Minor hurls eight frames of one-run ball

Thursday's finale of the four-game series between the Marlins and the Braves at Turner Field features a matchup of young pitchers coming off performances that have their managers, teammates and fans excited and anxious to see more.

Nathan Eovaldi, the 22-year-old right-hander the Marlins acquired from the Dodgers in the Hanley Ramirez trade, impressed in his debut with his new team Saturday, working 5 1/3 innings and scattering five hits while allowing one earned run in a 4-2 victory over the Padres.

Mike Minor, the Braves' 24-year-old left-hander, was sensational in his last outing Saturday, going eight innings and surrendering just four hits and an earned run in a 2-1 victory over the Phillies.

Eovaldi's victory in his Marlins debut upped his record to 2-6 and lowered his ERA to 3.94. He was 1-6 with a 4.45 ERA in 10 starts with the Dodgers. He knows what he wants to take to the mound against the Braves.

"Go out there and keep attacking the zone like I did the last time," he said Wednesday. "Getting into a good tempo out there, getting into a good, comfortable rhythm from the first inning until the last.

"I feel like I've been doing pretty well throughout the game. I usually have one or two bad innings where I run into a 25-pitch inning, which hurts me. It's usually control issues, not getting ahead of guys."

Eovaldi's fastball is his biggest asset, and his velocity regularly reaches 96 mph. Last year, when he came out of the bullpen, he touched 100 mph.

"That's the highest I know of," he said. "I was coming out of the bullpen towards the end of the season, and I was really amped up."

Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen and catcher John Buck were impressed with Eovaldi's performance against the Padres.

"I think he's got a good arm," Guillen said. "You can see he is still a baby and still needs polish, but I love the arm. His presence on the mound is very good. He's not scared to throw any pitch in any count, and that will help him."

Buck compared Eovaldi to a former teammate and talented right-hander.

"The only other person that I've had that was that young and had an idea of what he wanted to do -- whether it was right or wrong, he had an idea of what he wanted to do -- was probably Zack Greinke,'" Buck said. "He was able to go out and execute it. For a young guy, that is a big step that usually takes a while to have the confidence to know what they want to do with a lineup. He's 22 and he started with that already."

Minor, whom the Braves took with the seventh overall pick in the 2009 First-Year Player Draft, continued to distance himself from his early-season struggles with a determined effort against the Phillies.

He came out of June with a 6.20 ERA, but posted a 1.98 ERA in four July starts, and in the process, whittled that ERA down to 5.18.

Overall, Minor is 6-7 in 19 starts after going 4-5 with a 3.13 ERA in 16 starts last year for the Braves.

"Today was about as good as I've seen [Minor]," Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez said after Minor's performance against the Phillies.

"Command of his fastball on both sides of the plate, changeups behind in the count, changeups to strike people out. He really kept them off balance."

His early-season problems toughened him up, Minor said.

"I think it got to the point where instead of feeling sorry for myself, I was more [ticked] off and I wanted to do something about it," Minor said. "I went to some of the guys and talked to them and talked to [pitching coach Roger McDowell] and the catchers. They pointed out all of my flaws with what I do out there. I just took it and worked off of it instead of not facing it.

"Things would snowball on me early in the season if I gave up a couple runs. Now it's just part of the game. If I give up one or two, we're still in the ballgame and I don't let it get carried away."

Minor's progress is there for all to see, Gonzalez said.

"It takes a little time and, you know, he's not a finished product by any means," the Braves manager said. "But he's headed in that direction pretty quickly and right in front of our eyes."

Marlins: Reyes' hitting streak at 19
• Shortstop Jose Reyes had two hits Wednesday, extending his hitting streak to 19 games, one shy of his career high.

• Third baseman Donnie Murphy has hit safely in five straight games since joining the starting lineup after the trade of Ramirez.

• With Atlanta starting Minor, Miami is expected to give Gorkys Hernandez his first start in center field. Hernandez was acquired on Tuesday from Pittsburgh for Gaby Sanchez.

Braves: Winning streak snapped
• Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the Marlins snapped the Braves' seven-game winning streak, their best of the season.

• Reed Johnson, acquired Monday from the Cubs, made his Braves debut Wednesday, starting in right field, with Jason Heyward moving over and making his second career start in center.

Johnson was the leadoff hitter and went 2-for-4.

Worth noting
• The Marlins' Giancarlo Stanton is expected to start his rehab assignment at Class A Jupiter on Thursday. Stanton had surgery on July 8 to remove two cartilage chips from his right knee.

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