Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
MIAMI — Dee Gordon and the Miami Marlins wore their emotions on the sleeves of their No. 16 jerseys. Jose Fernandez would have loved it.
Gordon homered leading off the first inning for the Marlins, who totaled 14 hits and mixed cheers with the tears of the past two days by beating the New York Mets 7-3 on Monday night in their first game since Fernandez died in a boating accident.
Adam Conley pitched three scoreless innings subbing for Fernandez, who had been scheduled to make his final start of the year. Justin Bour went 3 for 3 and Gordon had four hits, including one that will go down in Marlins lore.
Paying tribute to their charismatic ace, the left-handed-hitting Gordon stepped to the plate as a righty leading off the first. After one pitch, Gordon switched to his customary left side — and pulled a 2-0 delivery into the upper deck for his first homer of the season.
The improbable clout brought tears, even from Gordon. After crossing the plate he tapped his chest and waved toward the sky, and he sobbed as teammates hugged him in the dugout.
Each of the Marlins wore black jerseys bearing Fernandez’s No. 16 and name, a tribute they had suggested. Giancarlo Stanton delivered an emotional speech as the entire team gathered at the mound moments before the game, and then contributed a hit, a run and a running, lunging backhanded catch in right field to rob Jay Bruce.
The portly Bour hit his first career triple, which he capped with a belly flop into third before rising to strike a muscleman pose that had his teammates and the crowd of 26,933 in a giddy roar.
The laughter was much-needed medicine after Fernandez and two friends died when his 32-foot SeaVee slammed into a rock jetty at about 3:15 a.m. Sunday.
Conley returned from finger tendinitis that had sidelined him since Aug. 13, and was followed by eight relievers. Mike Dunn (5-1) pitched a perfect fourth, and Scott McGowan retired pinch-hitter Kelly Johnson with the bases loaded to end the sixth.
A.J. Ramos pitched a hitless ninth. When he retired Curtis Granderson to end the game, the Marlins gathered once more around the edge of the mound and bowed their heads, and then tossed their caps onto the dirt and kneeled, tears flowing yet again.
New York’s Bartolo Colon (14-8) allowed a season-high seven runs in 21 /3 innings. The blowout was a big turnaround for the Mets, who began the week on a stretch of outscoring opponents 25-0 over a twogame span.
New York still leads the NL wildcard race with five games to go. DIAMONDBACKS 14, NATIONALS 4 AllStar catcher Wilson Ramos left the Washington Nationals’ loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks with an apparent right knee injury that could be a major blow to the NL East champions. Ramos landed awkwardly on his right leg after jumping to catch a relay throw in the sixth inning. He immediately called for medical attention and clutched at the same knee he injured badly during the 2012 season, when he tore his ACL and medial collateral ligament. Washington was already without reigning NL MVP Bryce Harper due to a thumb injury, slugging second baseman Daniel Murphy (strained glute) and 15-game winner Stephen Strasburg (elbow). Ramos is hitting .307 with 22 home runs and 80 RBIs for the Nationals, who will face the Los Angeles Dodgers in an NL Division Series. This loss left the Nationals one game ahead of the Dodgers for home-field advantage in the series.
REDS 15, CARDINALS 2 Joey Votto and Adam Duvall hit two of the Cincinnati’s four homers as the Reds routed the St. Louis Cardinals. Reds starter Tim Adleman (3-4) retired the first 10 Cardinals he faced and went a career-long seven innings. It was his first win since Aug. 19. Steve Selsky went 5-for-5 including a homer, four RBI and scored three runs. He’s the first Reds rookie to have five hits in a game since Wade Rowdon against the Mets on July 9, 1986. The Reds improved to 6-4 in their last 10 games against the Cardinals, who fell one game behind the idle San Francisco Giants for the second wild card spot with six games to go. Jaime Garcia (10-13) lasted just one inning in his shortest outing of his career and possibly last as a Cardinal.
CUBS 12, PIRATES 2 Javier Baez hit a grand slam and drove in a career-high six runs while major league ERA leader Kyle Hendricks pitched six scoreless innings as the Chicago Cubs won their 100th game of the season, routing the Pittsburgh Pirates. Baez helped the National League Central-champion Cubs reach triple digits in victories for the first time since 1935. He hit his second career grand slam in the fourth inning to extend Chicago’s lead to 5-0 and his two-run single capped a six-run sixth that made it 110. Hendricks (16-8) dropped his ERA to 1.99 by scattering seven hits, striking out five and walking none. He has not allowed more than three runs in 22 consecutive starts. Kris Bryant hit a two-run home run, his 39th, in the sixth to draw within one of NL leader Nolan Arenado of Colorado. The Pirates saw their hopes of a fourth consecutive postseason appearance dim even further with their third straight loss. They entered the day 4½ games out of the second NL wild card with seven games to play. Rookie Chad Kuhl (5-4) was rocked for five runs and eight hits in three innings as his string of nine consecutive starts of giving up three runs or less ended.