MIAMI -- The game had all the earmarks of low-stakes September baseball, with a small crowd and two spot starters in a matchup of first- and last-place teams. Nike Shoes Black Friday Discount . Bring on Freddy Garcia. The well-travelled 36-year-old right-hander earned his second NL victory since 2007, and his first since he joined the Atlanta Braves last month, pitching six innings to help beat Miami 6-1 Thursday. "Freddy wore the MVP pants today," teammate Freddie Freeman said. "What he did was pretty awesome." Freeman had three hits on his 24th birthday, including his 20th home run. Chris Johnson also had three hits to raise his average to .330. Garcia (1-1) allowed five hits and one run. What was working for him? "Everything," he said with a smile. "Hes a veteran guy," manager Fredi Gonzalez said. "He knows how to manoeuvr himself through a major-league lineup -- put a little on it, take a little off and never give you the same look." Garcia made his first start for the NL East leaders in place of rookie left-hander Alex Wood, whose turn was skipped to give him a breather. A two-time AL All-Star, Garcia lowered his ERA since joining the Braves to 1.32 in 13 2-3 innings. He could be valuable in October, when the games become much more important. "Hopefully Ill continue to pitch the way Ive been pitching," he said. "Whatever they need me to do, Im ready for." Three relievers completed a seven-hitter. Jordan Walden, who had been sidelined by a groin injury, pitched a scoreless seventh in his first appearance since Aug. 21. "We wanted to give him an inning and make sure hes OK," Gonzalez said. "Thats a big piece we havent had. That will take a little burden off some of the other guys we have been using a lot." There were no testy encounters less than 24 hours after a bench-clearing confrontation during the Braves victory Wednesday night. The crowd of 15,274 was the Marlins smallest at home since July 1. Theyre last in the NL in attendance. Brian Flynn (0-1), making his second major-league start, walked six and allowed six runs in four innings. "After an emotional night last night, we needed somebody to go out there, really pound the strike zone and put up some zeros," Miami manager Mike Redmond said. "And that just didnt happen." Flynn was given the start in place of Nathan Eovaldi, who was scratched because of a stiff back. Eovaldi wont pitch until Monday at the earliest. The Marlins went 2-5 on their homestand. They have the NLs worst record and have lost 27 of their past 38 games. Evan Gattis and Johnson hit consecutive two-run doubles in the third after Flynn walked the bases loaded to start the inning. Freemans two-out, two-run homer in the fourth made it 6-1. Freeman reached the 20-homer milestone for the third year in a row, leaving him 11 seasons behind former teammate Chipper Jones 14-year streak. "We always jab at each other," Freeman said. "Three down, 11 more to go. I guess I can shoot him a text message, and thats another one down. But Ive got a long ways to go." Donovan Solano had a two-out RBI single in the third to score Miamis run. Notes: Marlins LHP Brad Hand will make his first start of the year Friday when the Marlins open an 11-game trip against the Mets. RHP Henderson Alvarez and RHP Jacob Turner will start for Miami in a doubleheader Saturday. ... Atlanta won the season series 13-6. ... In the past three games, the Braves have hit .158 (6 for 38) with runners in scoring position. ... Solano improved his average with runners in scoring position to .371. Nike Shoes Black Friday Sale .com) - Jahlil Okafor erupted for 25 points and 20 rebounds as No. Nike Shoes Black Friday 2019 .com) - Nicolas Colsaerts fired an 11-under 60 on Thursday and grabbed a 3-stroke lead with the opening round of the Portugal Masters suspended by rain. http://www.nikeshoesblackfriday.com/ .com) - Jenny Boucek is the new head coach of the Seattle Storm. ST. LOUIS -- With Vladimir Tarasenko and T.J. Oshie both out of the St. Louis Blues lineup, captain David Backes stepped up to fill the void. Backes scored twice in the third period, giving him 23 goals on the season, and the Blues skated to a 3-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday night. One of Backes goals never even reached the net. He was awarded a goal with 1:11 left when he broke in on the Jets empty goal and was pulled down by Jacob Trouba. "That doesnt happen a whole lot," Backes said. "Sometimes when things arent going perfect for you, you take them any way you can get them. Hopefully, its the start of a little streak here." Winnipeg coach Paul Maurice wasnt too pleased that it happened Monday. "I dont think that game should have gone to 3-1," Maurice said. "I dont think thats an automatic goal. I dont think its a slash. He goes down, maybe they locked feet. But its not unimpeded progress. That game should be still 2-1 in my mind. "But 2-1 is still a deficit for us." Ryan Miller made 16 saves for the Blues, who are 7-0-1 since he was acquired by trade from Buffalo. St. Louis has won three straight and eight of nine. Western Conference-leading St. Louis has an NHL-best 101 points. It is the sixth time in franchise history that the Blues have reached 100 points. Backes has 23 goals this season. Brendan Morrow added a goal, and Jay Bouwmeester had two assists in the Blues win. Eric ODell had the lone goal for Winnipeg, and Al Montoya mmade 23 saves. Cheap Nike Shoes Black Friday. Montoya thought his team fell into the Blues trap. "This is what that team does," Montoya said. "They get up by a goal and they hold the fort." Blues coach Ken Hitchcock said his team could easily have had a bigger lead. "We made a game of it because we couldnt pull away in the second period when we had all the scoring chances," Hitchcock said. "We really played well in the second period." Tarasenko is expected to miss six weeks because of a hand injury sustained Saturday against Nashville. Oshie, whose first child was born earlier Monday, should be back for Wednesdays game at Chicago. Backes broke a 1-1 tie with a power-play goal at 13:09 of the third period when he swatted in a rebound of Ian Coles shot. After a listless first period, St. Louis took a 1-0 lead just 1:44 into the second. After Winnipegs Devin Setoguchi failed to control a bouncing puck, Derek Roy took it and broke in on left wing. He centred a pass to Morrow on the right side for a shot into the open net. The Jets took advantage during 4-on-4 play to tie it at 1:55 of the third. Evander Kane skated down left wing with ODell on a 2-on-1 break. Kane centred a pass to ODell, who faked a shot and then beat Miller with a backhand. NOTES: St. Louis is 38-1-5 when scoring first and 30-0-4 when leading after two periods. ... Winnipeg is 8-13-5 against the Central Division. ... Hitchcock moved into sole possession of third place on the teams career win list with 119. ' ' '