ATLANTA (Ticker) -- The Atlanta Braves may have a reason to be concerned about Greg Maddux.
After a rough outing on Opening Day, Maddux was pounded for nine runs - seven earned - in just two innings as the Florida Marlins crushed the Braves, 17-1, matching a team record for runs.
In his first two outings this season, the Braves' ace has allowed 11 earned runs in nine innings. Atlanta is off to a 1-4 start.
"I didn't pitch good," Maddux said. "Pitch selection was terrible, location was terrible. They hit every mistake I threw and they hit it hard. Even the outs were hard."
"We jumped on him early," Marlins catcher Ivan Rodriguez added. "He's a good pitcher. We got him on a bad night. He left some balls over the plate and we hit it pretty good."
Maddux continually got the ball up in the strike zone. Of the six outs he recorded, none were on the ground.
"Maddux's ball was running over the heart of the plate," Braves manager Bobby Cox said. "Tonight was about as hard as I've ever seen him get hit. The good thing is he gets to come back on three day's rest."
The Marlins fell just shy of their record for largest margin of victory, set in a 17-0 win at Colorado on September 17, 1995.
"(It was) weird," Florida third baseman Mike Lowell said. "We hit the ball hard, but we also saw a lot of holes. Maddux left the ball up more than he wanted."
Josh Beckett (1-1) bounced back from an Opening Day loss, allowing one run and six hits in six innings with three walks and nine strikeouts. The Braves got their only run on Gary Sheffield's RBI single in the third.
"I just wanted to go out there and pound the strike zone," said Beckett, who had been 0-3 with a 1.93 ERA against the Braves. "If I'm there, I think my wins will be there. I just need to stay healthy."
After allowing an RBI single to Andy Fox and a two-run single to Juan Encarnacion in the first, Maddux was reached for three homers in a six-run second. He gave up a solo homer to Ivan Rodriguez, a two-run homer to Lowell and a three-run blast to Alex Rodriguez.
It marked only the third time in his career that Maddux gave up three homers in a game, but the first time he gave up three in one inning.
"I pitched (bad) in the first inning," Maddux said. "I pitched (worse) in the second inning."
Gonzalez, the Marlins' shortstop, already has hit four homers this season after having just two in 151 at-bats last year.
Gonzalez, who has homered in three straight games, drove in five runs, matching a career high.
"I think I've got to relax, look at my pitches and get some RBI," he said. "He (Maddux) hung a slider. I made good contact."
Trey Hodges replaced Maddux (0-2) in the third and yielded RBI singles to Derrek Lee and Encarnacion as the Marlins extended their lead to 11-0.
Florida banged out 23 hits, one shy of a team record. The Marlins tacked on five runs in the sixth off Joey Dawley and Jung Bong.
"We're going to hit," Rodriguez said. "We showed it today. We scored a lot of runs."
Juan Pierre, Rodriguez, Lee, Encarnacion, Todd Hollandsworth and Gonzalez all had three hits for ther Marlins. Rodriguez and Encarnacion drove in three runs apiece.
