Marlins 5, Padres 2
MIAMI -- Closer A.J. Ramos blew Jose Fernandez's chance at a major-league record, but the Miami Marlins still managed to rally in dramatic fashion for a 5-2 win over the San Diego Padres on Sunday at Marlins Park.
Marlins shortstop Adeiny Hechavarria had the first walk-off hit of his career, a three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth. It was his fifth homer of the season, and it came on a 1-0 pitch from reliever Brandon Maurer (7-4).
Maurer walked two batters in the inning, fell behind on Hechavarria and watched the Marlins shortstop drill his one-out homer to left-center.
Miami (43-62) snapped a four-game losing streak.
The Marlins led 2-0 with one out in the ninth when Padres shortstop Alexi Amarista pulled a two-run homer to right field off Ramos. Amarista came into the game hitting just .196 with two homers.
In 24 career starts at Marlins Park, Fernandez has a 1.15 ERA. Had he won, he would have tied Johnny Allen (1932-33) and LaMarr Hoyt (1980-82) as the only major-league pitchers since 1900 to have won the first 16 decisions of their career at home.
However, Fernandez is the only one of those three to have earned his wins exclusively as a starting pitcher.
Fernandez struck out 10 batters in six innings on Sunday, allowing four hits and two walks. He threw 112 pitches, the most he has thrown since he came back from Tommy John surgery on July 2.
In fact, Fernandez had thrown 94 pitches through five innings when the Marlins somewhat surprisingly decided to let him return to the mound for the sixth.
Before Ramos' collapse, Fernandez got relief help from Bryan Morris, Carter Capps and Mike Dunn. But Capps left the game due to stiffness in his right elbow.
The Padres (51-54) had their four-game win streak snapped. Starter James Shields allowed two runs in six innings and escaped with a no-decision after Amarista's homer.
San Diego had a pair of major opportunities to get to Fernandez. The Padres loaded the bases in the first inning, but Fernandez got out of the jam by getting catcher Derek Norris to pop out to shortstop.
In the fifth, Amarista hit a leadoff triple. But he was stranded when Fernandez struck out Shields, center fielder Will Venable flew out to shallow right and third baseman Yangervis Solarte struck out.
Fernandez also worked around a two-out, two-base error by first baseman Justin Bour in the sixth, striking out Norris on his final pitch of the day.
Miami scored twice in the first inning. Right fielder Ichiro Suzuki, who doesn't have much power anymore at age 41, surprised Venable by driving a ball over his head. Venable was justifiably playing shallow against a player who has just two homers the past two seasons.
Marlins second baseman Miguel Rojas, playing for a resting Dee Gordon, then tried to bunt Suzuki to third. When that failed, Rojas hit a 1-2 pitch to center for an RBI double. Rojas eventually scored on left fielder Derek Dietrich's sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.
NOTES: Marlins 2B Dee Gordon, who entered Sunday third in the NL batting race (.330 average), was given a rest and was not in the starting lineup. ... The Marlins had a 2.79 ERA in July, the third-best month in franchise history. ... For the season, Miami's bullpen ranks fourth in the NL with a 3.23 ERA. ... The Marlins wrap up their nine-game homestand by hosting the New York Mets on Monday through Wednesday. ... Padres RHP Tyson Ross and his brother, Washington's Joe Ross, gave up homers this week to Mets 1B Lucas Duda. The last hitter to homer off two brothers in one week was Alex Rodriguez, who victimized Livan and El Duque Hernandez in 2007. ... ESPN ranked all major league teams on how well they did before Friday's trade deadline. The Padres, criticized for not being active enough, ranked 26th. The Marlins, criticized for not extracting any top prospects in return for the veterans they traded, were 30th. ... The Padres conclude their 10-game road trip Monday through Thursday in Milwaukee.