Marlins Volstad gets no support in loss to Braves

Tag : Hot Runner System

It took Ken Volstad a less than a minute to sum up his son'sperformance.
''I give him a B-plus,'' he said. ``But even if he had given upjust one run, he wouldn't have won [Monday].''
That's as good a summation as any of Chris Volstad's South Floridadebut -- a sharp outing, a quality start and a loss. Volstad,perhaps the best prospect in the Marlins' system and a formerfirst-round draft pick, pitched well enough against his formerheroes Monday, but had to swallow his first big-league loss -- 4-0to the Braves -- because the Marlins couldn't solve Jorge Campillo.
That's right, Jorge Campillo, a reliever-turned-starter whocouldn't get to the fifth inning the last time he faced theMarlins. He gave up only two singles -- the only Marlins hits ofthe night -- in seven innings and kept the Marlins out of a shareof first place.
The Marlins could have climbed into a three-way tie with the idlePhillies and Mets, but the loss dropped them a full game out offirst. The Mets and Phillies open a three-game series Tuesday,which means if the Marlins can get hot, they will gain ground on atleast one of them.
But Monday was a perfect opportunity because Volstad was coming offa sterling debut. He gave up one run in 8 2/3 innings against theDodgers in his first big-league start, and the Marlins knocked outCampillo the last time they faced him, June 3, scoring four runs infour innings.
Campillo needed just 51 pitches to retire the first 12 batters hefaced Monday and took a perfect game into the fifth before givingup a walk and a one-out single to Mike Jacobs. That was it, thebiggest and only threat of the night.
MOYER-ESQUE
It was only the fifth time the Marlins have been shut out thisseason, but it might be the beginning of a dangerous trend.
''He was like a right-handed Jamie Moyer,'' Marlins manager FrediGonzalez said. ``He kept throwing the changeup, and his fastballwas working for him, and he made pitches when he had to. He kept usoff balance.''
Moyer, the 45-year-old Phillies starter, is 10-0 against theMarlins and has made a living throwing slow, slower and slowestagainst them. Phillies ace Cole Hamels used a similar approachagainst the Marlins on Sunday, throwing more change-ups andoffspeed pitches, and Campillo owned the Marlins with a fastballthat was never clocked higher than 86 mph.
''Everything moves, and everything is slow,'' Jacobs said. ``Hekind of lulls you to sleep and then sneaks that 85-mph fastball byyou.''
Jacobs doesn't think the Moyer-esque style of pitching will be atrend against the Marlins.
''I don't think guys who throw a certain way are going to change topitch like Jamie Moyer against us,'' he said.
``We just couldn't get going [Monday].''
And it cost Volstad a chance to get a victory against the team hegrew up idolizing.
''I was a big Braves fan,'' said Volstad, who grew up in Palm BeachGardens. ``Greg Maddux and Chipper Jones were my guys.''
Volstad said when he was a kid, he often imagined striking outChipper Jones. He did so the first time they faced, striking outJones to end the first inning, but with a runner at second and oneout in the fifth, Jones went the other way and slapped an RBIsingle to left to give the Braves a 2-0 lead.
''I made a good pitch to him, and he did what good hitters do, hetook it the other way,'' said Volstad, who said he wasn't in awe ofeither the Braves or his first start in South Florida in front offriends and family.
``Once I got on the mound, it was all baseball. All that otherstuff was kind of thrown out the window. But when I faced Chipperthe first time, it was crazy, almost surreal.''
QUALITY START
Volstad gave up three runs on six hits in six innings with threewalks and three strikeouts, which qualifies as a quality start, andGonzalez had nothing but praise for him.
''He is composed on the mound and he has a lot of confidence, andhe showed a lot when he got out of that jam in the second,''Gonzalez said.
The Braves had a chance to knock Volstad out early when they loadedthe bases with no outs. But the 21-year-old showed some resilienceand poise when he escaped with the Marlins trailing just 1-0.
Mark Kotsay hit an RBI single as the first four Braves in theinning reached base, but Volstad came back and retired the nextthree on grounders that traveled a total of about 150 feet.
''I don't feel like I had 100 percent of my stuff, but I battled[Monday], and getting out of that jam was a big lift for me,''Volstad said.