 struck out six and gave up three hits while throwing 62 of 88 pitches for strikes. His curveball was particularly effective.'' Oh my gosh, get behind home plate and watch it,'' Hurdle said. ''It's almost like a Wiffle ball breaking ball. Then he throws the fastball at 98 and you've got to guess to hit that.'' Fernandez, who improved to 22-1 at home and lowered his season ERA to 2.53, exited after the seventh inning with the Marlins leading 3-0.'' He didn't want to come out,'' Mattingly said. ''He wants to pitch the whole game every game and he was at a pitch count tonight where you're comfortable letting him go out. ... He probably could have finished that game tonight, but he's also a kid we're still on the pitching plan in a sense with him through the course of the season and you're still trying to work the whole season to keep him available the whole year.'' Christian Yelich had a tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh, J. T. Realmuto had three hits for the Marlins, and A. J. Ramos pitched a shaky ninth for his 16th save. Miami's Ichiro Suzuki had two hits to tie Sam Crawford for 31st on MLB's all-time hit list with 2,963. Cole (5-4) allowed three runs and nine hits in 6 1-3 innings. He struck out four and walked two. Ramos loaded the bases in the ninth with no outs. Gregory Polanco, who hit a grand slam in Monday's 10-0 win, hit a sacrifice fly to deep center field to cut the deficit to 3-1.'' When I hit it I knew I could have hit it better,'' Polanco said. Ramos then struck out Jung Ho Kang and Starling Marte flied out to end the game with two runners on.'' (Ramos) has actually been pretty clean most of the year,'' Mattingly said. ''We've had a couple of these (close ones), but A. J. seems to like that situation. I don't know if he knows what it does to the rest of us, but A. J. doesn't seem to get rattled when that's going on.'' The Marlins broke a scoreless tie with three runs in the seventh inning. Suzuki and Realmuto singled with one out before Yelich's base hit to right scored Suzuki.'' That slider got too much of the plate to Yelich,'' Cole said. A wild pitch by Cole allowed Realmuto to score and Justin Bour's groundout extended the lead to 3-0.'' We got (Cole) in trouble a couple times, but he was able to make some really good pitches and get out of it,'' Yelich said. ''We were able to push a couple of runs across in the seventh and that's all we needed.'' Fernandez was in complete control allowing only one baserunner in scoring position. He is 5-0 with a 0.79 ERA over his past five starts.'' He's got very good stuff,'' Polanco said. Cole got out of a bases loaded jam with one out in the sixth when Chris Johnson lined out to second and Adeiny Hechavarria hit a soft fly ball to right field.2011 DRAFT CLASSCole was selected first overall in the 2011 MLB First-Year Player Draft by Pittsburgh while Fernandez went 14th to the Marlins.'' We have some good ones now in the big leagues doing a good job like (Francisco) Lindor, (Javier) Baez, and a bunch of guys,'' Fernandez said. ''Just fun to play this game and lucky to be here.'' HURDLE STILL MARVELINGHurdle was thoroughly impressed the day after Monday's 10-0 win.'' All in all that may have been the best game I've ever watched in a Pirates uniform,'' Hurdle said before Tuesday's game. ''The ability for us to defend the way we did, the ability for Jeff (Locke) to pitch the way he did, and the ability for us to maintain dominance in the box the way we did last night - all of those three facets played out incredibly well for me.'' TRAINER'S ROOMMarlins: RF Giancarlo Stanton (right side soreness) missed his seventh consecutive games although Mattingly said before the game Stanton would likely be available to pinch-hit. ... LHP Mike Dunn (forearm) was reinstated from the DL and is looking to make his season debut. ... RHP Bryan Morris (back) will undergo surgery, but Mattingly is hopeful he will be able to return before the end of the season. UP NEXTPirates LHP Jonathon Niese (5-2, 4.42 ERA) will start the third game of the series on Wednesday. Niese is 5-0 with a 3.74 ERA in his last nine starts against Miami, all as a member of the Mets. Marlins LHP Adam Conley (3-3, 4.15) will start Wednesday's game in search of his second quality start in his last six outings after 7 2-3 no-hit innings at Milwaukee on April 29.
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Time: 07:10 P.M. EST Venue: Marlins Park
To extend his personal-best winning streak, Jose Fernandez will have to slow down the Miami Marlins' miserable stretch against the Pittsburgh Pirates. With a chance to become the first Marlins pitcher in more than a decade to win seven straight starts, Fernandez squares off with fellow ace Gerrit Cole on Tuesday night when Miami tries to snap a three-game skid against the visiting Pirates. Pittsburgh (29-21) has success that stretches much further back in this series. With Monday's 10-0 victory in the opener of this four-game set, the Pirates are 9-1 while limiting Miami (26-25) to 20 runs since Aug. 6, 2014, and 18-5 dating to July 20, 2012. The first two games were originally scheduled to be played in Puerto Rico but were moved due to concerns of the Zika virus. Gregory Polanco's grand slam, Sean Rodriguez's two-run homer and David Freese's four hits lifted the Pirates on Monday. But on Tuesday they run into Fernandez, whose latest gem extended the longest winning streak of his career. The right-hander struck out 12 Tampa Bay hitters while allowing six hits and a run in seven innings of Thursday's 9-1 win. Fernandez (7-2, 2.82) became the franchise's first player to win six consecutive starts since Javier Vazquez in 2011, and no Marlin has had a longer such streak since A. J. Burnett won seven in a row July 19-Aug. 19, 2005. Fernandez has a 1.89 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 38 innings during the run, and he's yielded three runs in 27 innings over the last four. The 23-year-old struck out seven of the last 10 batters he faced and punched out every hitter in the Rays lineup at least once. He raised his strikeouts per nine innings rate to 13.35, highest among qualifying major league starters.'' I've been feeling so strong and I'm pacing myself the way I should be in the games,'' Fernandez said. ''It's time for me to learn how to manage myself on the mound and learn how to pitch.'' Fernandez hasn't faced the Pirates since his 2013 rookie season with the Marlins splitting his two starts. He allowed 10 hits and four runs in 13 innings while walking four and striking out 18. Starling Marte, David Freese and Andrew McCutchen are a combined 0 for 11 in the matchup with eight strikeouts. Cole (5-3, 2.53) has been no slouch himself of late, winning three of his last four starts behind a 1.04 ERA. The righty has given up 26 hits in 26 innings over that stretch but has held opponents to four runs - three earned. He took a no-decision in Thursday's 8-3 win over Arizona, allowing seven hits and an unearned run in five innings. He worked out of several jams before throwing 1-2-3 frames in the fourth and fifth innings - his pitch count of 106 ultimately doing him in.'' It's no secret I wasn't that sharp, but you're going to have days like that,'' Cole said. ''In the third inning, we started to get some traction with moving the ball inside and out, up and down, but at that point, I think it was probably like 50 pitches through two innings.'' However, Cole helped himself with the bat - hitting a 409-foot, three-run homer and a double to raise his batting average to .200. Cole is 2-1 with a 3.42 ERA in four career starts against Miami. He gave up three runs in 14 1/3 innings in two 2015 victories. Christian Yelich (3 for 8, two home runs), Giancarlo Stanton (3 for 8, two doubles, home run) and Justin Bour (2 for 6, home run) have each hit Cole well.
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