May 26, 2016; St. Petersburg, FL, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez (16) throws a pitch against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Miami Marlins defeated the Tampa Bay Rays 9-1. Photo Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
MIAMI — Jose Fernandez pitched seven scoreless innings and Christian Yelich broke up a scoreless duel with an RBI single to lead the Miami Marlins to a 3-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night at Marlins Park.
The Marlins survived a shaky ninth inning from closer A.J. Ramos, who walked two batters and allowed a single as the Pirates loaded the bases with no outs. Gregory Polanco, who hit his first career grand slam on Monday, nearly got another one as he flew out to the warning track in center field for a sacrifice fly.
After that, Jung Ho Kang struck out looking at a curveball, and Starling Marte flew out to right to end the game. Ramos earned his 16th save.
Fernandez, 23, got the best of Gerrit Cole, 25 in a battle of hard-throwing young right-handers who have already made one All-Star Game each.
Now 22-1 with a 1.59 ERA in his career at Marlins Park, Fernandez (8-2) continued to dominate at home. He allowed three hits — all singles — and no walks while striking out six. He has earned a win in each of his past seven starts, a career best.
Thanks in large part to Fernandez, the Marlins (27-25) defeated Pittsburgh (29-22) in the second of two games that had been scheduled for Puerto Rico. The games were moved back to Miami because of health-related concerns regarding the Zika virus.
Of course, Fernandez loves pitching at Marlins Park, so that was no problem for him as he outperformed Cole, who won 19 games last season.
Cole (5-4) allowed nine hits, two walks and three runs in 6 1/3 innings. He gave up all three of his runs in the seventh.
With runners on first and second and one out in that inning, Yelich pulled a 3-2 slider to right field for his big hit. Cole then threw a wild pitch on a 97-mph fastball. J.T. Realmuto scored on the play, barely beating Cole’s tag.
Justin Bour capped the inning with an RBI groundout.
Cole escaped a major jam with no runs in the third. A single by Ichiro Suzuki and a double by Realmuto gave the Marlins runners on second and third with no outs.
But Cole struck out Yelich swinging at an inside slider, got Marcell Ozuna on a groundout — Suzuki was thrown out at the plate — and the inning ended when Bour was caught looking at strike three on a 98-mph fastball.
The Marlins threatened again in the sixth, loading the bases with one out. But Chris Johnson lined out and Adeiny Hechavarria flew out to end the inning with a 0-0 score.
NOTES: LHP Mike Dunn (forearm), who missed Miami’s first 51 games, was activated. He made 72 relief appearances for the Marlins last year and is the only lefty in the bullpen. … Miami designated RHP Edwin Jackson, 32, for assignment. He had a 5.91 ERA in eight relief appearances this year. … Marlins 2B Miguel Rojas, who hurt a shoulder on Monday, said the injury is not serious. … Marlins RF Giancarlo Stanton (sore right side) missed his seventh straight start. … Pirates RF Gregory Polanco had his left shoulder wrapped in ice before Monday’s game — just a few hours before he hit the first grand slam of his career. … Wednesday’s game matches two left-handers with similar numbers — Miami’s Adam Conley (4.15 ERA) against Pittsburgh’s Jon Niese (4.42 ERA). Conley, though, has struggled in his past four starts, with a 5.95 ERA and a .370 batting average allowed.
