Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
Astros complete sweep
Jose Urena is no match for emotional McCullers.
MIAMI — Jose Urena continued to make a strong bid to remain in the Miami Marlins’ revolving door of a starting rovictim tation Wednesday, but he was no match for emotional Houston Astros starter Lance McCullers Jr., who was pitching with his close friend, the late Jose Fernandez, on his mind.
McCullers and Fernandez were high school foes in Tampa and eventual workout partners. They often spoke about facing each other in the major leagues someday. It wasn’t to be after Fernandez was killed in a boat crash last September, so McCullers, 23, treated Wednesday afternoon’s start as if he were facing his buddy.
After a shaky first inning, McCullers outdueled Urena, a of shoddy defense, to lift the Astros to a 3-0 victory and a three-game series sweep of the injury-decimated Marlins.
“There was emotion for me
pregame,” McCullers said. “I know [Fernandez] is here in spirit. He would want me to go out there and pitch my game and in that way celebrate him and pitching. That’s what I tried to focus on.”
Miami was outscored 22-4 in the series and completed the homestand 1-8 before embarking on a five-game West Coast road trip.
“There’s nothing more to say at this point,” Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. “We’ll keep preparing, going through the process and not give in. …
“Absolutely. I think we [hang our heads and say here we go again]. I think that’s any team though. When you go through a tough stretch. I don’t know if I’ve ever been through one like this.”
Urena, 25, who has been given opportunities to earn a starting job over the past two seasons, allowed just one earned run in 5 2⁄3 innings, but he was hurt on a two-out error by second baseman Dee Gordon in the sixth.
Gordon’s routine backhanded flip for a force-out went awry, and it was compounded when George Springer followed with a two-out, brokenbat, two-run single that gave Houston the 3-0 lead.
“That’s a mental mistake on my part,’’ Gordon said. “I can’t let the momentum of the game go on their side. … I just made a dumb play and it’s my fault we lost the game.
“We can’t get down on ourselves. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us so we got to continue to pull together and play it out.’’
McCullers pitched six shutout innings and hasn’t allowed an earned run in 17 innings. He gave up just three hits Wednesday to improve to 4-1 with a 2.65 ERA. Three Houston relievers completed the three-hit shutout.
Urena settled down after giving up a run in the first on an RBI double by Jose Altuve, who went 4-of-5 with two doubles and two triples and leads the AL in road batting average (.415).
In three starts this season, Urena is 1-2 with a 1.91 ERA. Mattingly confirmed after the game that Urena will remain in the starting rotation.
“The confidence is there because I’m using different pitches and they’re working,” Urena said.
McCullers, perhaps running on adrenaline after taking the mound where his friend Fernandez dominated opponents, was unusually wild in the first inning, hitting two batters and walking Giancarlo Stanton to load the bases with two outs.
He wriggled out of the jam by inducing Derek Dietrich to bounce to second. From then on, he did his best imitation of Fernandez and rode a no-hitter through four innings until rookie J.T. Riddle slapped an opposite-field single.
Before every start McCullers draws No. 16, Fernandez’s jersey number, on the dirt behind the mound while sporting Jose’s A2K glove. He also wore special cleats with JDF and No. 16 on them Wednesday.
Like Fernandez, McCullers is virtually unbeatable at home, where he has set an AL record by allowing three or fewer runs in 24 consecutive starts at Minute Maid Park while posting a stadiumbest 2.11 ERA.
Only Fernandez has topped that with a major league record of three or fewer runs in his first 25 starts at Marlins Park.
“This is one of the things he loved most of all — playing baseball, being able to pitch, competing,” McCullers said. “I wanted to keep that alive.”