Marlins rally but lose, hurting fading WC hopes

ATLANTA — After squandering a seven-run lead, the Braves still found a way to frustrate the Marlins. Nick Markakis homered in the second and added the go-ahead RBI double in the sixth inning that lifted Atlanta to a 12-7 victory on Monday at Turner Field.

The Marlins were mounting what would have been their biggest comeback win of the season, pulling even in the sixth on Giancarlo Stanton’s pinch-hit sacrifice fly. But Atlanta regained the lead in the bottom half on Markakis’ two-out double off Brian Ellington and tacked on four more runs through the eighth.

Tyler Flowers drove in a game-high four RBIs as the Braves improved to 9-4 in the season series and delivered another blow to Miami’s shrinking postseason chances. The Marlins had a chance to gain ground on the Cardinals and Mets in the National League Wild Card race but instead fell to 71-73 and remained five games back on a night they could have gotten back to .500.

“It felt kind of like those NBA games when you get down by 20, 25, and then they catch up and you’re out of gas,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “I’m not quite sure that’s what happened, but we weren’t quite able to stop them. You’re only going to be able to come back so many times.”

Marlins starter Andrew Cashner has been dealing with blister-related issues for weeks, and several times he was checking the finger between pitches, but Cashner said the finger was a non-issue. It was the Braves that repeatedly applied the pressure, tagging the right-hander for seven runs on six hits in two-plus innings. Since being acquired from the Padres in late July, Cashner’s ERA with Miami is 6.13, with 27 earned runs in 39 2/3 innings.

“I definitely have got to be a lot better,” Cashner said. “I didn’t really locate at all tonight. We’re still in the hunt. I’ve got to definitely pitch better. Tonight was probably my worst outing of the season. It was a nice job by the offense to pick us up, get us back in the game. Just couldn’t find a way.”

Ender Inciarte tripled to open the first and scored. In Atlanta’s five-run third, Inciarte doubled to lead off the inning. All five batters Cashner faced reached and scored.

In the fourth, the Marlins scored five runs off Mike Foltynewicz, who exited in the inning with a left calf contusion after he was struck by Marcell Ozuna’s comeback liner. Miami tied it with two in the sixth inning on Martin Prado’s RBI single …

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