Latos Looks To Bounce Back Against The Braves
Follow CBSMIAMI.COM: Facebook | Twitter
MIAMI (AP) -- Mat Latos appears to finally be comfortable - and healthy - after a terrible beginning to his first season with the Miami Marlins.
The Atlanta Braves had a lot to do with his early struggles.
The right-hander looks to bounce back from a pair of rough outings against the Braves as this three-game series in Miami continues Saturday.
Latos was acquired from Cincinnati in December and made his first start with the Marlins on April 7 against visiting Atlanta, shortly after having his knee drained. It turned out to be a memorable debut, but for all the wrong reasons.
He retired only two batters and gave up seven runs, six hits and two walks in the shortest outing by a starting pitcher making his Marlins debut. Latos got another crack at the Braves six days later and allowed three runs and five hits with three walks in four-plus innings of a 3-2 loss in Atlanta.
Latos had a 17.36 ERA after those starts and also dropped his next one, but he's since gone 1-0 with a 2.55 ERA in four outings. His last two have been the best of that bunch, with Latos (1-3, 4.72) giving up two runs while striking out 11 over 13 1-3 innings.
He was in line for the win Sunday at San Francisco after giving up one run in a season-high seven innings while not walking a batter for the first time, but the Giants scored twice in the ninth to pull out a 3-2 victory.
"Having to come back from (the knee), I didn't have a great spring and I pushed that into the season," Latos said. "For some reason April doesn't like me. It's really about getting to the point of repeating."
Alex Wood will pitch opposite Latos again after he benefited from the seven first-inning runs in the 12-2 win last month. He tossed five innings and gave up a pair of runs.
The left-hander hasn't won since, going 0-2 with a 4.37 ERA in six outings. Wood (1-2, 4.28) was also in position to pick up a victory Sunday, but Washington scored twice in the eighth to hand the Braves a 5-4 loss. He allowed three runs in 6 2-3 innings and also went 3 for 3 with an RBI.
Wood has a solid chance to get a win Saturday since he's 2-0 with a 1.80 ERA in his last three starts against the Marlins and Latos is 0-3 with a 9.82 ERA in his past four versus Atlanta.
Dee Gordon is 3 for 7 when facing Wood, and that .429 average is actually below his season mark. Gordon went 3 for 5 in a 5-3 loss to open this series Friday, increasing his major league-leading average to .433.
Giancarlo Stanton homered twice to give him three solo shots in the last three games for the Marlins (16-20), who have dropped eight of 12. He tied it in the seventh before Atlanta (16-19) scored twice in its next at-bat.
Miami's relievers have a 7.53 ERA in the last five games.
"It's tough to win ballgames when you can't shut them down," manager Mike Redmond said.
Todd Cunningham had three hits in his first major league start and first appearance since 2013, including a tiebreaking single in the eighth, as the Braves won for the second time in seven games.
"We may have some shortcomings, but we don't have shortcomings in want-to and fight and battling back," manager Fredi Gonzalez said.
Atlanta has won five of seven in the season series, including all four in Miami to improve to 8-2 in the last 10 there.
(TM and © Copyright 2015 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2015 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
