VENUE: Sun Life Stadium
The Atlanta Braves' once-comfortable lead in the NL East has dwindled, and they have a tough assignment Saturday night.
The Braves have lost four straight on the road as they try to hand Florida Marlins ace Josh Johnson a rare loss at Sun Life Stadium.
Atlanta (78-57) fell 6-1 on Friday, and its lead atop the division was cut to one over Philadelphia. The Braves have been alone in first since beating the Phillies on May 31, when they held a one-half game lead that eventually grew to as much as seven games.
"Not our night," Braves left fielder Matt Diaz said.
The Braves will now have to try to solve Johnson (11-5, 2.28 ERA), who is 0-0 with a 0.75 ERA in two starts against them this year. Johnson struck out eight and allowed one run over six innings in a 103-pitch outing Sunday in a 7-6 loss at Atlanta as his bullpen blew a five-run lead.
"That's quite a few pitches," Johnson told the Marlins' official website. "I would have liked to get a little bit deeper. I just didn't."
The right-hander is starting at home for the first time since Aug. 7 after four straight outings on the road. He's 7-2 with a 1.48 ERA at Sun Life Stadium for the majors' second-best home ERA behind St. Louis' Adam Wainwright.
The available Braves with the most experience against Johnson are Brian McCann and Martin Prado, and neither has had much success. McCann is 7 for 31 and Prado 4 for 21.
Atlanta will counter with Jair Jurrjens (6-4, 4.38), who went 3-0 with a 3.99 ERA in six starts in August. He capped his unbeaten month by beating the Mets 9-3 on Monday, yielding three runs over 5 2-3 innings despite matching a career high with six walks.
The right-hander is 3-0 with a 4.75 ERA in his last six outings against the Marlins (68-65). Jurrjens faced them once this year, giving up four runs over seven innings in a 5-4, 11-inning win July 25.
Florida manager Edwin Rodriguez will be back in the dugout after serving a one-game suspension Friday for his part in Wednesday's brawl with Washington.
Pitcher Chris Volstad was suspended for six games, pitcher Alex Sanabia for five and first baseman Gaby Sanchez for three. All three are appealing, and Sanchez drew loud ovations each time he appeared at the plate Friday.
"I think it's behind us," said bench coach Brandon Hyde, who filled in for Rodriguez. "It was a wild night two nights ago, but we've talked about it. It's in the past and we're ready to move on."
Logan Morrison tripled twice and scored twice as Florida won its third straight following a three-game slide.
All-Star shortstop Hanley Ramirez singled to extend his hitting streak to 10 games. He's 18 for 37 with 15 runs scored during his run, and hitting .375 with 10 runs scored in 13 games against Atlanta this year.
