Cosart displays fortitude but Miami’s woes grow vs. NL East
MIAMI — When last seen in a Miami Marlins uniform, Jarred Cosart was talking about technical difficulties, trying to explain his latest disastrous outing. The erratic right-hander gave up six runs in 41⁄3 innings to the Giants that night in San Francisco and thought it had to do with a change in the position of his hands during his delivery.
Soon after that April 22 debacle he was handed a ticket to New Orleans to work out his troubles in the minors.
“I’d say his biggest issue has been command — walking guys,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said Monday when Cosart returned. “We know he’s got the stuff to compete here.”
Cosart, called up to replace injured Wei-Yin Chen (elbow sprain), held the Phillies without a run on three hits in five innings. It was an encouraging return to the majors for Cosart, a trade-deadline acquisition two years ago, though he was long gone by the time the Phillies pushed across a run in the eighth on a two-out RBI double by rookie Tommy Joseph off Fernando Rodney, the only one needed in an eventual 4-0 Phillies victory at Marlins Park.
“A lot of that was on me. I made a lot of changes; when things were going good I try to make them better," Cosart said of his early-season failings. “Sometimes the brain’s the biggest thing in this game. You let your brain get in the way, it can cause some uphill battles, and that was kind of the situation I was in. For me, a lot of it was find a mindset that works. I feel comfortable with my delivery right now."
Marlins relievers David Phelps, Kyle Barraclough and Rodney had recorded eight consecutive outs on strikes before Rodney walked Maikel Franco on four pitches.
He scampered home on Joseph’s drive in the leftcenter gap.
The Phillies piled on three more runs (only one earned) in a sloppy ninth off A.J. Ramos, aided by two errors and a hit batter.
In being shut out for the second consecutive day, the Marlins continued to struggle against teams in their own division, now with losing records against each of them. They fell to 5-6 against the Phillies and 20-28 within the NL East while going 29-11 against the rest of the league.