The Associated Press
MIAMI—Jose Fernandez stomped off the mound after an arduous second inning—cursing and smacking himself on the head with his glove, which sent his sweat flying.
Blame the outburst on a lack of control.
The Miami Marlins’ ace endured early wildness before regaining his command and his winning touch at home to beat the Washington Nationals 6-1 last night.
Fernandez (1-1) threw 54 pitches in the first two innings, but didn’t allow a hit until the fifth and made it through six.
“He’s just so emotional,” said manager Don Mattingly.
“[But] he settles down and he starts pitching different.”
Fernandez improved to 18-1 at Marlins Park, with the lone loss in his previous home start.
His victory was the first this season for a Marlins’ starter. Miami also won at home for the first time this year in six tries.
Washington’s Bryce Harper went 0-for-2 with a sacrifice fly.
He had homered in his previous four games.
“Every time you get him out, you breathe a sigh of relief,” Mattingly noted.
Giancarlo Stanton benefited from the new, cozier dimensions at Marlins Park when he homered near the 407-foot sign in centre in the fifth.
Last year, the ball would have been off the wall.
The homer was the third for Stanton, who also singled home a run.
He and Fernandez played together for only the 11th time in the past three seasons.
“It’s nice to have those guys together and healthy, and doing well,” Mattingly noted.
Tanner Roark (1-2) gave up five runs (four earned) and seven hits in six innings.
The Nationals now have lost two in a row after starting 9-1.
Fernandez improved to 4-0 with a 1.05 ERA in seven starts against the Nationals.
He allowed four walks, three hits, and one run while striking out nine.
He threw 103 pitches, including 28 to get through a scoreless second inning, when he hit a batter, walked two (one intentionally), and threw two wild pitches.
He struck out Michael Taylor with the bases loaded to end the inning.
“He was effectively wild,” said Nationals’ manager Dusty Baker.
“He got in a couple of jams. We had some opportunities.”
Elsewhere in the NL, New York beat Philadelphia 5-2, Colorado downed Cincinnati 5-1, Chicago blanked St. Louis 5-0, and Arizona topped San Francisco 9-7 (11 innings).
