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 with postseason aspirations.
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 third time this season and second time this week in an 11-3 Marlins rout to open a three-game series Friday night at Marlins Park.
“I hope the Marlins got all their hits out of the way,” said manager Fredi Gonzalez, whose Braves slipped back to a game behind Milwaukee after the Brewers snapped a nine-game losing streak. “We left a lot of pitches over the middle of the plate. And they capitalized.”
After snapping a 25-inning scoreless streak in a 7-4 win against the Phillies Wednesday and having a day to rest before facing the pesky Marlins, the Braves and Harang (10-10) laid an egg, the second time that’s happened to the well-traveled veteran this season 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.
“We had a few games last week that were tough,” Harang said of the Braves’ recent struggles. “We had a good win the other day, and obviously a much-needed off day. But then to come back and have this happen definitely leaves a little sour taste in your mouth. But we’ve just got to forget about it and come back and go get them tomorrow.
“We’ve got Woody (Alex Wood) on the mound and he’s thrown well against them. I think we have a good shot.”
The Marlins scoreed two runs in the first inning on consecutive two-out singles by Casey McGehee and Marcaell Ozuna. They scored two in the third and consecutive two-out doubles by Marcell Ozuna and Justin Bour, the latter a 410-foot shot high off the center-field wall that’s a homer in just about any other major league park.
“They barreled too many balls,” Gonzalez said. “And they did it with people on base…. (Harang) usually is able to maneuver through the lineup. It just looked like everything kept coming back over the middle of the plate. We’ll go get ‘em tomorrow.”
The Marlins added two more runs on Giancarlo Stanton’s double in the fourth inning, again with two outs. And that was all for Harang, who was replaced by David Hale.
“Warming up for the game I felt awesome, like I couldn’t miss a pitch,” Harang said. “Ask any other pitcher, those are the nights you’ve got to bite your lip and bear down and get through it. Today happened to be one of those games. So, I’ve just got to forget about it and prepare for the next one, and finish out the season strong.”
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 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 excelled 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.
Heyward was asked about how well Cosart had pitched since being traded to the Marlins.
“Obviously his numbers are showing it, for sure,” Heyward said. “I feel like he was better in Atlanta (last week) than he was tonight. He was able to get a cushion early and for a guy with his stuff, it’s not hard to get in a groove. No offense, but tonight was one of those nights where he was able to get a lead early and settle in.”
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.
“That’s part of the game,” Heyward said of falling behind by a big margin early Friday. “Nothing out of the ordinary, it happens. You give teams big leads. Teams don’t play well one night or whatever. Again, you want to play well, you want to make everything count right now, and that’s what we need to do. Tonight’s over with, so tomorrow’s another day, and that’s all we can control right now.”
It 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).
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