MIAMI – Brandon McCarthy gave up a barrage of hits for the second time in a week Friday, and again a leadoff problem reared its head for the Braves’ veteran pitcher.
The Marlins rocked him for 11 hits and six runs in five innings of a 6-3 Miami win at Marlins Park, snapping the Braves’ eight-game road winning streak.
Braves second-year revelation Ozzie Albies hit his 12th home run to tie Bryce Harper for the National League lead, and tie the score 1-1 in the top of the third.
But the Marlins scored single runs in the first and third innings and two apiece in the fourth and fifth against McCarthy (4-2), who had his second poor start in a row.
He gave up leadoff hits in four of five innings, including two homers, and McCarthy has been torched for a .432 average (16-for-37) by hitters leading off innings this season, the second-worst among major league qualifiers.
McCarthy has allowed a staggering 23 hits and 14 runs (all earned) in just 8 1/3 innings over his past two starts, with Friday’s loss coming on the heels of an 11-2 loss to the Giants on Saturday when the veteran right-hander lasted just 3 1/3 innings and gave up 12 hits and eight runs.
Nine of the past 15 opposing hitters leading off innings against him have reached base.
J.T. Realmuto led off the first inning with a double and scored two ground-outs later, and when Realmuto led off again in the third he hit a line-drive home run to the left-field seats on the first pitch to put the Marlins back in front, 2-1, after Albies’ homer in the top of the third.
The Braves tied the score again in the fourth against Marlins starter Dan Straily with a run on a single, an error, a hit-by-pitch and a bases-loaded walk by Ryan Flaherty.
But McCarthy gave up two runs in the fourth on four singles within a span of five batters to start the inning, including an RBI single from Realmuto.
The Marlins wouldn’t relinquish the lead again. Nick Markakis’ RBI double in the fifth got the Braves within a run, 4-3, but the Marlins struck again in the bottom of the inning when Starlin Castro led off with a homer and Miguel Rojas drove in a run with the last of three consecutive one-out singles.
The Braves outscored opponents 50-8 during their eight-game road winning streak before Friday.
It was just the eighth loss in 22 road games for the Braves, who are tied with the Pirates for the third-most road games played in the majors.
Albies has six home runs and 18 RBIs in his past 15 games including two homers and six RBIs in the first two games of the four-game series against the Marlins. He had a career-high five RBIs and his first grand slam in Thursday’s 9-2 win, making Albies, 21, the youngest Braves player to hit a grand slam since Andruw Jones hit one Aug. 31, 1997, at age 20.
Ozzie tied Harper for the National League home run lead with 12, which was the same number as Angels superstar Mike Trout had before Friday and three more than either of the Yankees’ sluggers, Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge.
