CINCINNATI _The Miami Marlins won in April. They won in May. They won in June. They won in July. The Marlins had a winning record four months straight to start the season.
But August isn't going so hot for them.
With Wednesday's 3-2 loss to the last-place Reds, the Marlins fell to 5-10 this month and settled into fourth place in the Wild Card race.
The Marlins received their first decent outing from Andrew Cashner, the starting pitcher they obtained at the trade deadline to solidify their shaky rotation. But the lineup was quiet and the bullpen was unable to protect a tenuous, late-inning lead.
After two subpar starts, Cashner turned in the kind of outing the Marlins hoped for when they landed him in their trade with San Diego. Cashner, who had gone 0-2 with a 6.61 ERA in his first two starts with the Marlins, held the Reds to a run over five innings.
Marcell Ozuna opened the scoring with his 21st home run, a solo shot in the fourth off Reds starter Homer Bailey.
The Reds tied it in their half of the fourth on back-to-back doubles by Brandon Phillips and Eugenio Suarez. But Cashner worked out of a first-and-third jam that same inning, retiring two straight to finish the frame.
The Marlins took a 2-1 lead in the fifth when Christian Yelich reached on a two-out single, stole second, and scored on Suarez's fielding error on a hot smash to third by Ozuna.
It remained that way until the seventh when Billy Hamilton beat out an infield hit to start the inning. He went to second on a sacrifice bunt and after Nick Wittgren retired Zack Cozart on an infield pop, Marlins manager Don Mattingly elected to walk Joey Votto to bring up Brandon Phillips.
That move backfired when Phillips ripped a double into the gap, scoring the tying and go-ahead runs.
