By ,
Published January 13, 2015
Although the Miami Marlins have the worst record in the majors, they do have a few bright spots.
Jose Fernandez threw seven shutout innings in an 8-1 win over the New York Mets Saturday in the middle test of a three-game series.
Fernandez (3-3) allowed just three hits and a walk while striking out eight. He also contributed offensively, going 2-for-3 with an RBI.
"I was taking one pitch at a time ... I wasn't thinking about anything else," said Fernandez. "I was thinking make good pitches and try to get the ball low."
Chris Coghlan, Derek Dietrich and Adeiny Hechavarria each had a pair of RBI. Jeff Mathis drove in a run for the Marlins, who have won two straight after a nine-game losing streak.
Justin Turner drove in the lone run for the Mets, who saw starter Collin McHugh (0-1) last just four-plus innings. He surrendered four runs on six hits and three walks.
"Every time you throw the ball poorly or don't throw the ball as well as you want to, it's frustrating," said McHugh. "You don't want to put the guys in a hole early."
In the home half of the first, Placido Polanco and Dietrich drew walks with one out. After Marcell Ozuna struck out, Coghlan singled, scoring Polanco. However, Dietrich was thrown out at third, ending the inning.
An inning later, Fernandez delivered a two-out single that plated Mathis.
The Marlins tacked on two more runs in the fourth. Coghlan and Greg Dobbs connected on back-to-back singles to start the inning. Hechavarria hit a sacrifice fly to center to score Coghlan and Mathis tripled to right to bring Dobbs home.
Miami added four more runs in the seventh. Dietrich had a two-RBI single to left. Following a walk by Ozuna, Dietrich scored on a Coghlan single to right. Two batters later, Hechavarria's base hit to left field brought Ozuna home.
After 87 pitches, Fernandez, who retired the final 11 batters he faced, was replaced by Dan Jennings. He gave up two hits, including a two-out double by Turner in a pinch-hit role that scored Juan Lagares.
Ryan Webb pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for the Marlins.
Game Notes
Ozuna was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run scored, snapping a 16-game hitting streak. He has the second-longest streak for a Marlins rookie, behind only Edgar Renteria's 22-game run in 1996 ... New York's Marlon Byrd recorded his 1,100th career hit with a pinch single in the eighth ... McHugh has yet to record a win in his career. In 11 games (five starts), he is 0-5 with an 8.26 ERA.
https://www.foxnews.com/sports/fernandez-strong-on-mound-marlins-rout-mets