MIAMI – The Braves spoke of having new life after waking up Friday in a tie with free-falling Milwaukee for the second spot in the National League wild card standings.
Then it came time to play the Marlins and, for the fourth time in six games, the Braves played like anything but a team deserving of postseason consideration.
Aaron Harang got rocked for 10 hits and six runs without making it out of the fourth inning, and young Jarred Cosart dominated the Braves for the second time in a week in an 11-3 Marlins rout to open a three-game series Friday night.
After snapping a 25-inning scoreless streak in a 7-4 win Wednesday against the Phillies and having a day to rest before facing the pesky Marlins, the Braves and Harang (10-10) laid an egg at Marlins Park, the second time that’s happened to the well-traveled veteran at the Miami stadium.
Harang fell to 1-4 with a 6.91 ERA and .350 opponents average in his past five starts, after going 4-0 with a 2.55 ERA in his previous nine starts. In his past five outings, he’s allowed 41 hits, 21 earned runs and nine walks in 27 1/3 innings, and lasted fewer than six innings in all four losses in that period.
After David Hale retired all four batters he faced in relief of Harang, the next three Braves relievers – James Russell, Juan Jaime, Gus Schlosser – got knocked around for eight hits and five runs in 2 2/3 with Jaime giving up two runs on four consecutive one-out singles in the seventh innings.
Oh, yes, it was an ugly night for the Braves, who fell to 8-9 against the Marlins this season and lead them by four games in the standings.
While Braves pitchers scuffled, Cosart shone again. He allowed five hits and three earned runs in 7 2/3 innings, with two runs and two hits coming in the eighth inning. He’s 4-0 with a 1.27 ERA in the past five of his six starts since being traded from the Astros on July 31.
Cosart, 24, faced only three batters over the minimum through seven innings, with Freddie Freeman’s leadoff homer in the seventh accounting for the Braves’ first run after the Marlins had built a 7-0 lead. The only other Braves to reach base in the first six innings were Evan Gattis on a second-inning single and Jason Heyward on a sixth-inning double.
The Braves have lost seven of their past 12 games, and in that period they scored three runs or fewer nine times including four shutout losses. Cosart scattered seven hits in seven innings of the Marlins’ 4-0 win against the Braves and Harang a week ago.
The Braves mustered just five hits Saturday, the fifth time in 12 games that they got five hits or fewer, including being no-hit by the Phillies’ Cole Hamels and three relievers on Monday.
Friday was the fourth time Harang allowed 10 or more hits this season, including twice at the retractable-roof ballpark in Miami’s Little Havana section. He is 0-2 with a 10.20 ERA in three starts at Marlins Park, all this season. He gave up 10 hits, nine runs and two homers in 4 2/3 innings of a 9-3 loss on April 30 at Miami.
Harang is 0-3 with a 6.15 ERA in six starts against the Marlins this season, with most of the damage coming in two starts in Miami. He’s allowed 45 hits and 23 earned runs in 33 2/3 innings against the Marlins this season.
The Marlins got Cosart from the Astros in a July 31 trade that not too many folks outside Miami or Houston notice. All he’s done is go 4-1 with a 1.99 ERA in six starts for the Marlins, after posting a 9-7 record and 4.41 ERA in 20 starts for the Astros in this, his first full season.
His 1.64 ERA in August was second-best among NL starters, trailing only the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner (1.57).
For a complete write-thru version of this story with postgame quotes, please go to MyAJC.com or use this link.
