Attendance: 24,207
Hero of the Game: Jose Fernandez (0.289 WPA)
Goat of the Game: Christian Yelich (-0.084 WPA)
Play of the Game: Giancarlo Stanton homered in the sixth inning. (+0.190 WPA)
The Miami Marlins got a tremendous performance from their young star pitcher Jose Fernandez in today's 3-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. But as you could tell from the score, a spectacular outing from Fernandez was not actually enough to earn the Fish a comfortable win. It took that and a mammoth home run from Giancarlo Stanton to seal the deal for the Marlins.
Fernandez actually ran into some early trouble leading to a 2-0 deficit. In the second inning, Pedro Alvarez singled and scored on a Russell Martin double, and Clint Barmes then drove in Martin on a single to put the Pirates up two runs. Afterwards, catcher Jeff Mathis expressed extreme frustration on the pitch-calling he provided for the young Fernandez, visibly throwing a fit in the dugout near Fernandez.
What happened next was a sight to behold. Fernandez struck out the side in the third inning and began mowing down Pirates hitters continuously afterwards. Until the end of the eight inning, Fernandez only allowed two hits and struck out 11 batters, including a streak of five in a row from the end of the fourth until the start of the sixth inning. He completely stumped the Pirates by getting 22 of 97 pitches for swings and misses, including 12 of his 42 curveballs. Fernandez's 13 strikeouts are a Marlins record for a rookie, but he himself set that record twice earlier this year with ten strikeouts.
But as mentioned, the Fish might now have won this game despite Fernandez's spectacular start. It took a sixth-inning bomb by Giancarlo Stanton to put the Fish up 3-2. The Marlins tied it up in the fourth with a series of singles and a sacrifice fly. But one hard-hit pitch by Stanton off of the equally impressive Gerrit Cole was deposited at the base of the Monstrosity and claimed the lead for the Fish.
Steve Cishek ran into trouble, allowing two baserunners in the ninth inning, but he was able to complete his 22nd save of the year.