Jarred Cosart shows strength, guile in another solid start for Marlins

MIAMI -- To say Miami Marlins right-hander Jarred Cosart found himself in a less-than-ideal situation during the fifth inning of Friday night's 2-1 win over the Washington Nationals would be an understatement.

In a 1-0 ballgame, National League MVP frontrunner Bryce Harper came to the plate with a pair of runners on and two outs.

Having already struck Harper out in the third on a 94 mph fastball, Cosart turned to a tactic he focused on during his time in Jupiter, Florida, with rehab pitching coordinator Wayne Rosenthal.

Cosart started him with a 79 curveball before a 94 mph fastball missed. He dealt Harper an 83 mph changeup for a called second strike before fanning him on an 81 mph curve to end the threat.

"Working on sequencing, working on my curveball, throwing curveballs for strikes," Cosart said. "I had some pretty big sequences. The last one to Harper was the most important. I got 1-1 and I knew I was throwing a changeup and I knew that was probably the most important pitch of the at-bat because if I was able to throw that for a strike I could pretty much do anything with two strikes.

"... To have that pitch working today -- I threw more than I've ever thrown before, threw more to righties. Probably threw them off. Having that pitch and having it set up my bread and butter which is my fastball."

Though Cosart didn't factor into the decision, his five scoreless, four-hit innings signified another step forward in a rough 2015 mired by an inner-ear disorder that likely affected him all season.

It took 41 pitches (22 strikes) to get through the first two frames before he settled in. Command proved elusive early on with a leadoff walk to Jayson Werth and another to Harper two batters later in the first. Still, he limited the Nationals to four singles. Of his 90 pitches, 55 were strikes.

"Cosart set the tone effectively wild early," manager Dan Jennings said. "Got his cut fastball going and utilized his breaking pitch very well. ... He's got a natural cut action on his fastball and it's a huge pitch for him. For him to be able to pitch that aggressive-- like I said effectively wild early -- settle into a good rhythm there, got his tempo going and got us through five in a way he needed to do. He used that attack mentality tonight."

The 25-year-old righty struck out five batters -- three on fastballs with velocities between 94-97 mph. He got Harper and Michael Taylor on curves.

"He was able to throw all three pitches tonight better than I've seen all year probably," catcher JT Realmuto said. "He was throwing his curveball and changeup for strikes whenever he wanted to. That helps out his fastball when you've got that good of a fastball."

You can follow Christina De Nicola on Twitter @CDeNicola13 or email her at cdenicola13@gmail.com.