Javier Vazquez deserved a better fate than he got in his Braves debut in Philadelphia when the bullpen squandered his six-run lead.
He had to figure with 12 strikeouts and a quality start against the Marlins on Tuesday, he would be on his way to winning for the first time as a Brave. Trouble was, Chris Volstad pitched even better for Florida. So Vazquez lost for the first time as a Brave instead, as the Braves fell 5-1 to the 22-year-old lanky right-hander.
The Marlins and their vaunted young pitching staff --- they have youngest rotation in the National League and second-youngest in the majors after Oakland --- broke the tie between them and the Braves in the NL East. Each team had been 5-1.
"They've got a lot of guys who can throw really hard, so it's going to be tough for the offense," said Kelly Johnson, who accounted for the Braves' only run on a solo home run. "All you can ask for is basically what Vazquez did tonight. He went six really good innings. Three runs, we should at least be able to match that."
On a chilly night, the Braves' bats cooled as well. Entering the game, they were leading the National League with a .300 team average, but they managed only four hits.
Chipper Jones went 0-for-4 and looked to be suffering with his bruised left thumb.
"He's got a pretty good sinker," Johnson said of Volstad. "We just didn't put good wood on it."
Vazquez was two strikeouts shy of his career-high (14) in six innings, but left the game down 3-1. While he had been working deep into counts and in and around five singles, Volstad was coaxing first-pitch swings and quick at-bats.
"I threw too many pitches in the first three innings and got us in a bad spot there," Vazquez said. "The first three innings I had 60-something pitches."
Volstad allowed only one hit to the first 15 Braves hitters he faced --- Johnson's third homer of the year. He didn't make another false move until walking Casey Kotchman in the fifth. He allowed a run in seven innings to take his first win in three starts against the Braves , and Johnson's homer was only the fourth Volstad has allowed in 15 major-league starts.
"We got shut down," catcher Brian McCann said. "Volstad pitched good. We couldn't figure him out. He's 6-6, 6-7 and he's got that downward plane. It's hard to pick up."
The Marlins gave Volstad the run support he needed in a three-run flurry off Vazquez in the third inning --- all with two outs. Ross Gload walked to load the bases for Dan Uggla, who singled past Yunel Escobar to give the Marlins a 2-0 lead.
Vazquez would have been out of the inning down 2-0, but a fan appeared to interfere with a foul ball that Garret Anderson had a play on in left field. Two pitches later, Jeremy Hermida scored on a wild pitch.
That was the beginning of an adventurous day for Anderson, who made two errors trying to basket-catch foul balls.
The Braves lost any real comeback hopes when reliever Jeff Bennett gave up two runs in the eighth.
NEXT FOR Braves
* Who: vs. Marlins
* When: 7:10 p.m. today
* TV; radio: WPCH; 640, 96.1
