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Reds, Marlins continue set in Miami

Aug 1, 2014 - 2:57 PM (SportsNetwork.com) - A good starting rotation in Miami appears to have gotten even better at the trading deadline.

The Marlins will trot out an existing member of that pitching staff on Friday night against the Cincinnati Reds when the teams continue a four-game series with game two at Marlins Park.

Miami pulled the trigger on a deal that brought young right-hander Jarred Cosart to south Florida, with the hopes that he can add to pitching momentum that's seen a 2.77 earned run average from starters over a stretch in which the team has gone 9-3.

The overall team ERA in that stretch has been 2.42, and the Marlins had climbed from 8 1/2 games out of a National League playoff spot to 4 1/2 prior to Thursday's game one loss.

Cosart arrived from the Astros with Enrique Hernandez and Austin Wates, while Colin Moran, Francis Martes and Jake Marisnick headed to Houston. Cosart had won nine of 16 decisions and toted a 4.41 ERA through 20 starts this season with the Astros.

"Cosart will help us win more games and be a better ballclub, and hopefully that winds up with a playoff spot," president of baseball operations Mike Hill said.

Cincinnati made no moves at the trading deadline, perhaps anticipating the expected late August returns of injured offensive standouts Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips.

"We were involved in a lot of different negotiations, but in the end we were looking mainly for offense and there really wasn't the offensive pieces out there," general manager Walt Jocketty said.

The Reds are 3-10 since the All-Star break while hitting .191 as a team and scoring just 2.1 runs per game. Slumping outfielder Jay Bruce is eligible to return from the bereavement list on Friday after the death of his grandfather. He's hit just .133 in his last 23 games.

Mat Latos gets the start after his most recent outing on Sunday against Washington ended in a 4-2 loss after he allowed three runs in six innings and struck out six.

He allowed just three runs in 15 1/3 innings against the Marlins in two 2013 starts.

Miami sends out right-hander Jacob Turner in search of a third straight win.

He was 2-4 with an ERA above 6.00 before a shift to the bullpen in June, but has won two straight starts since returning while allowing three runs in 10 2/3 innings.

In one meeting with Cincinnati, he tossed seven scoreless innings and allowed two hits in a 3-0 victory in September 2012.

On Thursday, the Reds scored three runs in the eighth inning after a call at the plate was overturned and beat the Marlins, 3-1.

The Marlins appeared to have escaped a bases-loaded, no-out jam in the eighth and kept a 1-0 lead intact when Giancarlo Stanton caught Todd Frazier's fly ball in right field and one-hopped a throw to catcher Jeff Mathis. But Stanton's throw took Mathis from the first-base side of home plate, where he set up, to the third-base side and into the path of Zack Cozart, bringing MLB's new rule aimed a cutting down on home plate collisions into play.

Out by several steps, Cozart didn't slide and was tagged easily. The umpires gathered for close to seven minutes while the ruling was made at the MLB replay operations center in New York. Home plate umpire Mike Winters, who had called Cozart out, made the safe motion and then ejected Marlins manager Mike Redmond. After the replay and Redmond's ejection, Ryan Ludwick hit a single to center field to plate two more runs and give the Reds their 3-1 lead.

Cincinnati won six of its seven meetings with the Marlins last season.