Puig has bittersweet and emotional day

The outfielder mourns the loss of his friend, the Marlins’ Fernandez, and rejoices at the Dodgers’ winning the division again.

Yasiel Puig couldn’t maintain his composure. His faint smile disappeared. His eyes turned red, his nostrils flared. Soon, tears were cascading down his face.

Puig lost a friend Sunday. Jose Fernandez was dead. The 24-year-old All-Star pitcher of the Miami Marlins was killed in a boating accident early in the morning.

You listened to Puig, you studied his body language, and you wondered how this would affect him.

Puig already knew of the fragility of his existence. Puig had risked everything to escape Cuba and come to the United States, as had Fernandez. If the Dodgers outfielder was impulsive, it was because he was determined to extract as much as he could from life at every moment. The future was rarely a consideration. Maybe Fernandez’s death will reinforce that often-destructive instinct, which has threatened to derail his career.

Except as Puig spoke about Fernandez before a 10-inning, 4-3 victory over the Colorado

Rockies that secured a fourth consecutive division championship for the Dodgers, it was obvious he recognized the value in how his deceased friend made others feel. Fernandez was adored by almost everyone.

“He was a person who was very loving toward his mother, his grandmother, and all of his teammates on the team, and with players on other teams like me,” Puig said in Spanish.

Puig was still thinking of Fernandez hours later when the Dodgers were spraying champagne and beer on each other in the clubhouse. He also thought of himself, the kind of person he was and the kind of person he wanted to be.

Reflecting on his monthlong demotion to the minor leagues, Puig said he had only himself to blame. He acknowledged his behavior was a problem.

“It was my fault I was in triple A,” he said. “I had to improve my discipline and things with my hitting, my defense. I wasn’t doing what I had to do.”

Puig initially objected to the idea of playing parttime, but said he now embraces being the righthanded-hitting portion of a platoon in right field.

“It was difficult at first, but we’re all playing well now,” he said. “You have to take advantage of the opportunities you’re given in life. Now, I have to wait for them to give me the opportunity to play against lefthanders. I have to accept that.”

He said he also accepted his lack of control over his own future. He acknowledged the possibility the Dodgers could trade him in the off-season.

“I’ll give the best of myself in the playoffs and I’ll wait for their decision in the off-season,” Puig said.

But his preference is to remain with the Dodgers.

“I would like to stay here,” he said. “It’s a winning team. We’ve won four consecutive years.

All I want to do is play baseball. I would like to do it here, but if they decide to trade me, well, that’s my job.”

Puig has spoken about how the increased pressure of postseason baseball has negatively affected his performance. He doesn’t think that will be a problem this time around.

“This year,” he said, “I have nothing to lose.”

And if these are really his last weeks with the Dodgers?

Puig switched to English and said, “Have fun.”

He said he wanted to repay his teammates for welcoming him back to the team with open arms.

When San Francisco Giants pitcher Madison Bumgarner tried to stare him down and started screaming at him a few days ago, his teammates charged to his defense.

When he doubled over in front of his locker Sunday morning after sharing his memories of Fernandez, reliever J.P. Howell embraced him. The sight of Puig crying drove Howell to tears.

“That’s my boy, man,” Howell said. “I know he’s hurting.”

Puig did his part in the division-clinching victory over the Rockies, driving in the Dodgers’ first run with a third-inning sacrifice fly. Since returning to the major leagues early this month, Puig has driven in 10 runs in 17 games, including nine starts.

As Puig bounced around the Dodgers clubhouse in celebration after the game, he suddenly felt a hand on his back. The hand belonged to Farhan Zaidi, the Dodgers general manager.

The two men embraced, with Zaidi telling Puig, “Really proud of you. Really proud of you.”

Zaidi said he had no idea whether Puig would ever return when the Dodgers sent him to the minor leagues shortly after the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline.

“Obviously, we were hoping it would go this way, but we could never count on it,” Zaidi said. “There were so many variables. For him to have done everything we asked along the way, been a great teammate up here, helped us win games up here, I think it’s an incredible redemption and validation story for him.”

Puig said he would like to honor Fernandez, with whom he struck a friendship when they were rookies in 2013. Puig makes his winter home in Miami and he said they often spent time together during the offseason.

“To me, after Clayton Kershaw, he was the best pitcher MLB had,” Puig said.

He smiled as he recalled how frequently Fernandez struck him out. Puig was two for 11 with five strikeouts against his friend.

He said they often joked to each other as they competed.

“If he threw a ball, I would tell him to throw it down the middle,” he said.

Puig dedicated Sunday’s game to Fernandez. While pleased the Dodgers won — not only for Fernandez, but also for departing broadcaster Vin Scully — his heart remained broken.

“I still can’t believe he left us so early,” Puig said.