Like a glove: New mitt, same result for unflappable Jose Fernandez in return
MIAMI -- Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez matched history in style during Saturday night's 2-0 win over the Washington Nationals.
In his return from a right biceps strain, Fernandez tossed five scoreless innings while wearing a bright blue glove he had been using during his rehab process.
"I like the glove," Fernandez said. "I said, 'Why not change it?' Made sure it was OK with the umpires before the game, brought it out here and it gave me a lot of good luck today."
Fernandez extended his major-league record to 25 consecutive starts without a home loss to begin a carer. He also improved to 16-0 with a 1.11 ERA at Marlins Park, joining Johnny Allen (1932-33) and LaMarr Hoyt (1980-82) to win as many home decisions to start a career since 1900. The ERA mark is the best for any pitcher.
"I think it means a lot to my teammates because they're the ones that got to hit and get the runs," Fernandez said. "I think it's just another number, just another win. Really happy the team got the win. That's basically our big goal here."
With a "common sense pitch count" -- per manager Dan Jennings, Fernandez tossed 69 pitches (43 strikes), allowing two hits -- both singles -- with seven strikeouts and one walk. After all, he didn't have any rehab outings -- just one sim game (75 pitches) with the minor-league season over.
It didn't look like he would last long enough to qualify for a victory early on. Fernandez required 21 pitches to work out of a first-inning jam. Anthony Rendon led off with a single before Fernandez struck out Danny Espinosa and Bryce Harper. Following a Jayson Werth walk, Ian Desmond flied out to center.
The 23-year-old righty allowed just one more baserunner on Harper's leadoff single in the fourth. No one reached scoring position. He topped out at 99 mph on an outside fastball to fan Harper in the first.
Four of his strikeouts came on the fastball, while the other three were via the curve.
"It's good to watch him fill up the strike zone," Jennings said. "He was attacking. His stuff I thought was as good as we've seen. I think up to 99. Threw some outstanding breaking pitches. Seven Ks through five innings and only allowed two hits. Big night for him. Good to have him back. First time back we wanted to be smart on the pitch count and how we were going to use him."
Miami has captured four straight series for the second time this season -- also doing so April 22-May 3. The Marlins have won nine of their last 11 games.
With Fernandez on the mound, the Marlins are 29-15 in his starts since 2013. Fernandez is 21-8 with a 2.21 ERA in 44 big-league starts no matter the location. Adding him to the rotation only helps with 20 games remaining in disappointing 2015.
"When he pitches the team is different it seems like," said closer AJ Ramos, who notched his 27th save. "He brings something to this team that nobody can explain. Certain people have that factor, and he's one of those guys. It's uplifting for the team, especially when he pitches well, which he always does. We just follow his lead when he's out there, and hopefully he can continue to do that."
More than any historic record or flashy glove, the best thing to come out of Saturday was how Fernandez felt afterwards. He has made just eight starts since returning in early July from last year's Tommy John surgery.
"Good. Good. Good. No problem," Fernandez said. "Just finished icing now and no problem. Tomorrow we're going to do everything we can do to take care of it and see what happens. We should be looking good. Walking off the mound healthy is always great."
You can follow Christina De Nicola on Twitter @CDeNicola13 or email her at cdenicola13@gmail.com.
