A lot of NL East preseason prognosticating went the way of the World Series champion Phillies and the Mets, who were picked by some to make the 2009 World Series. But as the Braves learned the past three days, the Marlins shouldn't be overlooked.
A young team with a top-notch starting rotation swept the Braves in three games, the latest a 6-2 win on Thursday afternoon. It was the first time the Marlins had swept a three-game series at Turner Field. They won a two-game series the year it opened in 1997.
"Right now they're probably playing as well as anybody in Baseball because of how they're throwing and how they're hitting," said Jeff Francoeur, who drove in the only two runs off starter Anibal Sanchez. "They have five guys they can run out there every day that can put it to you if you're not careful."
After sweeping the Nationals last weekend, the Braves finished the homestand 3-3. They headed for Pittsburgh, where they open a three-city road trip tonight, with their hot 5-1 start down to a lukewarm 5-4.
The Marlins, meanwhile, are off to an 8-1 start, which matches their franchise best of 1997 and 2004.
Tuesday night, the Marlins rode the dominant work of starter Chris Volstad. Wednesday night, they bullied the Braves bullpen. Thursday, they took a small opening against Kenshin Kawakami and pounced on it.
Kawakami had coaxed what appeared to be a double-play grounder off the bat of Dan Uggla in the second inning, but Kelly Johnson lost the ball in the afternoon glare and dropped the throw from shortstop Yunel Escobar.
So instead of being out of the inning on a Jeremy Hermida fly-out, Cody Ross came to the plate with two runners on. He promptly launched a three-run homer into the left field seats for a 3-0 lead.
"It's a day game here; it's just bright," Johnson said. "There's a low wall and people wear white all the time in day games. It's really hard to see. ... I saw it out of his hand, at least, I knew it was coming at me. I put my glove where I thought it was going. Just didn't see it after that."
Ross had taken a chin-level pitch from Kawakami. He expected the next one to be away, but it was over the middle of the plate.
"The pitch was too far inside," Kawakami said through an interpreter. And of the error? "It's part of Baseball, and it's really my fault for giving up the home run after the error."
Kawakami had trouble in the sixth after a walk and a triple by Hermida, leaving him saddled with five runs in six innings. He struck out seven and walked three.
"He made one bad pitch to Ross for the homer and one bad pitch to Hermida, a hanging splitty," manager Bobby Cox said. "He pitched outstanding. We get the double play, they don't get the three runs. I thought he was on top of his game today, plus hit two line drives to boot."
Kawakami went 2-for-2 with his first two major-league hits.
But matters kept coming down to rookie Jordan Schafer, who's in a rookie rut. Schafer came up twice with a pair of runners on base and two out and struck out both times. He went 1-for-11 for the series with seven strikeouts.
NEXT FOR Braves
* Who: at Pirates
* When: 7:10 p.m. today
* TV; radio: SPSO; 640/96.1
