<p>J.D. Drew homered twice and Sam McConnell earned his first major league win to lead the Atlanta Braves past the Florida Marlins 9-6 on Wednesday night.</p><p>The game was delayed by rain for 75 minutes in the second inning, and rain fell throughout most of the rest of it. On Tuesday night, the teams waited out a 3 1/2-hour delay before the start, and the game ended at 1:24 a.m. More showers are in the forecast for the series finale Thursday.</p><p>It was the seventh career two-homer game for Drew _ his first since Oct. 3, 2001 _ and he tied a career high with five RBIs for the Braves, who moved within 3 1/2 games of first in the NL East. The Marlins and the Philadelphia Phillies are tied for the top spot.</p><p>McConnell (1-0) allowed one run on one hit through 3 1-3 innings. He was called up from Triple-A Richmond on June 25 and made his debut that night against Baltimore. In his two previous outings, he compiled a 13.50 ERA.</p><p>Kevin Gryboski relieved McConnell with two on in the seventh and allowed a bloop single by Mike Redmond to make it 7-6, but pinch-hitter Lenny Harris flied to left to end the threat.</p><p>John Smoltz pitched the ninth for his 14th save in 15 chances.</p><p>Mike Lowell and Miguel Cabrera both homered for the Marlins, who lost for the fifth time in seven games.</p><p>Neither starting pitcher came back after the delay, which probably was a good thing for Florida right-hander A.J. Burnett. He gave up three runs on five hits in only one inning.</p><p>His counterpart, Paul Byrd, was only slightly better. He was charged with two runs on three hits in two innings, then turned a 3-2 lead over to Travis Smith.</p><p>Smith allowed five straight hits during one stretch in the third_ including a two-run homer to Cabrera _ and let Florida go ahead 5-3. But Darren Oliver (2-3), who took over for Burnett, gave it right back in the bottom half.</p><p>Estrada doubled and moved to third on a single by Julio Franco. A groundout by Andruw Jones brought in Estrada, and Franco scored on the first career triple by rookie Charles Thomas.</p><p>Finally, pinch-hitter Mike Hessman singled in Thomas for a 6-5 lead.</p><p>Notes:@ Atlanta 1B Adam LaRoche, on the 15-day disabled list with a separated shoulder, went 2-for-4 with a homer during a rehab assignment Wednesday night with Triple-A Richmond. He might return to the Braves on Friday. ... Lowell and Cabrera hit back-to-back homers in the Marlins' 5-4 victory Tuesday night.</p>
