Enjoying the role of spoiler, Marlins top wild card-contending Braves

The Marlins’ fate this season was sealed several months ago, but they refuse to simply play out the string.

Anyone who watched Connor Norby bolt down the third-base line and slide head-first into home plate after a wild pitch Friday can attest to that.

Plus, there’s the chance to play spoiler two of their final three series — against the Braves this weekend to end their final home stand and against the Twins next week in Minnesota. Both are contending for a Wild Card.

“That’s what you want. I’d rather be facing guys right now that are trying to get into the postseason,” Marlins manager Skip Schumaker said. “That makes it a lot more fun to come to the ballpark — when someone has a team that’s still fighting to get in it. That gives us a chance to disrupt some things going on.”

So far, so good for the Marlins. They beat the Braves 4-3 Friday night at loanDepot park, dealing a blow to their National League rival’s postseason chances. The Braves started the night two games behind the Mets.

“You don’t ever really need extra motivation in a major league game, but certainly everyone here is aware that [the Braves] are fighting for every single win,” Marlins reliever Declan Cronin said. “And if we can be the ones to prevent them from getting in, that’s what we’re going to try to do.”

Cronin, Anthony Bender, Lake Bachar, and Jesús Tinoco combined to pitch 3 2/3 scoreless innings to preserve the win for starter Valente Bellozo, who followed up his strong outing in Atlanta Aug. 2 — two runs allowed in five innings on two hits — with another solid performance Friday.

Bellozo allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings, with two of those coming on solo homers by Orlando Arcia, in the fourth inning, and Ramón Laureano, in the sixth.

“Bellozo doing it again — it’s just incredible,” Schumaker said. “Getting into the sixth inning. His [velocity] was up, especially the first couple of innings. He had traffic and got out of the traffic, which was nice to see.”

“Pretty good outing,” Bellozo said.

The Marlins jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning, particularly impressive considering some players were “dragging” after Thursday’s long 20-4 loss to the Dodgers, Schumaker said.

Jake Burger hit a ground-rule double over right fielder Jorge Soler’s outstretched glove to score Norby, who had singled. Kyle Stowers then drove home Jesús Sánchez — he walked after Norby — with a single to left, and Jonah Bride hit a sac fly to bring home Burger.

With the Marlins leading 3-2 in the fifth, Norby drew a leadoff walk and then stole second. He advanced to third on Sánchez’s groundout.

With Burger at the plate, Braves starter Charlie Morton fired a pitch wide of the plate and into the dirt that catcher Sean Murphy couldn’t block. Murphy chased down the ball and tossed it underhand to Morton at home, but Norby reached out with his left hand and touched the plate before the tag. That proved to be the deciding run, as Laureano homered an inning later.

“I was joking with him a little during the game, but he’s a really smart baseball player,” Schumaker said of Norby. “There’s no reason why he can’t be a 20-20 type player every single year, because he’s smart. It doesn’t have to be really good speed to steal bases, especially with the new rules.

“His read [on the wild pitch] was a really good read. It’s not easy with the [pitch] going to first base [side] behind the catcher because it’s kind of a blind spot.”

THIS AND THAT

▪ Right-hander Darren McCaughan will start Sunday. Left-hander Braxton Garrett, who’s close to returning from a forearm flexor strain, had been a possibility for that slot.

▪ Right-hander Sixto Sánchez (shoulder) is scheduled to throw one inning or 25 pitches for Jacksonville on Saturday.

▪ Shaun Anderson was selected from Jacksonville. Fellow right-hander George Soriano was optioned there.

▪ Infielder Vidal Bruján’s first action after returning from a right shoulder AC joint sprain was pitching for the second time in his career, including to Shohei Ohtani in the ninth inning Thursday. Ohtani crushed a 68-mph fastball from Bruján for his third home run of the game.

“I’m on the mound just pitching to the best hitter in baseball — it was very exciting,” Bruján said via interpreter Luis Dorante Jr. “I was a little panicked. I didn’t want him to hit a line drive towards me.”

Bruján, who plunked the first of 11 batters he faced, allowed five hits, three walks, and six runs in 2/3 of an inning. Catcher Jhonny Pereda replaced him and recorded the final out in his first career pitching appearance.

▪ The South Florida chapter of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America selected Jake Burger as the Marlins’ Most Valuable Player and Declan Cronin as Rookie of the Year. Xavier Edwards (Jeff Conine Heart & Hustle Award) and Jesús Sánchez (Charlie Hough Good Guy Award) were also honored.