The Miami Marlins demolished the Atlanta Braves 11-3 on Friday to gain ground in the Wild Card standings.
The Braves are one of three teams sitting between the Marlins and a playoff spot and Miami closed that gap to only four games with the win. In the loss column, the lead Atlanta holds over Miami is actually only three games now.
The offense for Miami put on a show with 11 runs on 18 hits which included at least one hit from every starter. Even starting pitcher Jarred Cosart had a hit along the way while both Donovan Solano and Marcell Ozuna each had four-hit games. The 18 hits were a season-hgih for Miami.
Doubles were collected by Ozuna (24), Christian Yelich (26), Giancarlo Stanton (30) and Justin Bour (2). It was the first start in Bour's big league career and it could lead to another start this weekend.
Stanton's two-hit day also included two runs batted in to give him a league leading 104 on the season. The slugger also padded his MVP credentials by increasing his average to .297. There is still an outside chance that Stanton can post Triple Crown numbers on the year though it'd take a tremendous final month.
Cosart dazzled the Braves for the second time in a week and continued his amazing career as a Marlin. Cosart is now 4-1 since joining Miami and has won last three starts. It looked like Cosart could go for a complete game before he was extended in the eighth inning.
The right-hander went 7.2 innings in which he allowed three runs on five hits and a walk. Two of those hits and runs came in the final frame when it appeared that Cosart ran out of gas.
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The Marlins will give the ball to Nathan Eovaldi on Saturday as they try to pick up a series victory.
