Cuban youngster Jose Fernandez faces the Minnesota Twins for the second time in his 15th big-league start on Tuesday night when the Miami Marlins play the host in the opener of a two-game interleague series.
Just 20 years old, Fernandez was the 14th overall selection in the 2011 draft and allowed just a run on five hits over 11 innings in his initial two outings in early April.
He faced the Twins on April 23 in Minnesota and dropped a 4-3 verdict after allowing six hits and four runs in five innings.
Fernandez has won four of six decisions since, but dropped a 3-1 decision at Arizona in his most recent start on June 19.
In 79 2/3 overall innings in the majors, he's allowed 31 runs and struck out 81 batters while holding opponents to a .203 batting average.
He'll face Minnesota veteran Kevin Correia, who'll make his 305th big-league appearance and was drafted in 2002, when Fernandez was 9.
The 32-year-old Californian has won his last two decisions since dropping a 5-1 decision at Atlanta on May 20.
He gave up three runs in a 6-3 victory at Milwaukee seven days later, then got to 6-4 on the season with a 7-4 defeat of the Chicago White Sox on June 19, in which he allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings.
Correia, who's a game above .500 on the road in his career - as opposed to four games under when pitching at home - has split eight career decisions against the Marlins.
On Sunday in Cleveland, Oswaldo Arcia and Josh Willingham each knocked in two runs and the Twins held off the Cleveland Indians, 5-3, to avoid a three-game series sweep.
Trevor Plouffe had one RBI for the Twins, who had 12 hits.
Pedro Hernandez (3-1) got the start for Minnesota due to Mike Pelfrey being placed on the 15-day disabled list prior to the game. He allowed two runs on three hits while walking six over five innings.
"I thought he did a tremendous job," Ryan Doumit said. "I thought the way he started off was justifiable. He had a long day yesterday and the start kind of snuck up on him. But he settled in nicely, and he pitched well enough to get the win."
In San Francisco, Justin Ruggiano homered twice and helped power the Marlins past the Giants, 7-2, to win a four-game set at AT&T Park.
Ruggiano finished 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored. Marcell Ozuna also had a home run along with two RBI, while Logan Morrison and Greg Dobbs each added an RBI for the Marlins, who took three of the four games in the set and have won in 10 of their last 11 visits to San Francisco.
"I'm proud of those guys because it got a little hairy there early in the season," said Marlins manager Mike Redmond. "They were able turn the page and come back everyday."
In just his second start of the season, Nathan Eovaldi (1-0) had an effective outing. He surrendered two runs on four hits with seven strikeouts in six-plus frames.
The Twins have won five of eight games played between the teams since they first met in 2002. The teams split a doubleheader in April in Minnesota.
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