Jose Fernandez’s comeback required a comeback. The precocious right-hander shook off a rocky start in his return from Tommy John surgery, pitching six innings and hitting a homer on Thursday to help the Miami Marlins rally past the San Francisco Giants 5-4 and complete a three-game sweep.
The first two batters to face Fernandez scored, and he screamed at himself as he walked off the mound to end the first inning.
After that, Fernandez (1-0) found the form that made him the 2013 NL Rookie of the Year. Pitching for the first time since May 9, last year, he went six innings and allowed three runs.
Photo: AP
A.J. Ramos pitched a perfect ninth for his 12th save in 15 chances. The sweep was the first in a series of at least three games for Miami at home against the Giants since 1999.
Fernandez outpitched Matt Cain (0-1), who was also making this year’s debut. Cain, sidelined last July by an elbow injury that required surgery, allowed five runs in five innings.
TWINS 2, ROYALS 0
In Kansas City, Missouri, Kyle Gibson threw eight innings of four-hit ball, while Danny Santana and Eduardo Escobar had RBI triples as Minnesota beat AL Central-leading Kansas City.
Gibson (6-6) stranded a pair of runners in the eighth before turning the lead over to Glen Perkins, who remained perfect in 26 save attempts. Perkins is two saves shy of matching Eddie Guardado (116) for third-most in Twins history.
The Royals’ Chris Young (7-4) dodged trouble for most of 5-1/3 innings, the only run he allowed coming on a triple by Santana in the fifth. The big, lanky right-hander turned over a 1-0 deficit to the game’s best bullpen, but his offense was unable to bail him out.
PADRES 5, CARDINALS 3, 11 INNS
In St Louis, Missouri, Will Venable hit a pinch-hit two-run home run in the top of the 11th inning as San Diego snapped a three-game losing streak with a victory over suddenly scuffling St Louis.
Venable had been 1 for 17 coming off the bench before connecting on the first pitch from Carlos Villanueva (3-3) after the Padres successfully challenged a fair-foul ruling that resulted in a ground-rule double by Clint Barmes. The ball appeared to tick the line as right fielder Jason Heyward made an unsuccessful attempt at a sliding catch near the stands. Venable followed with his sixth homer of the year.
Shawn Kelley (1-2) had four strikeouts in two scoreless innings and Craig Kimbrel earned his 20th save in 21 chances.
Heyward and Matt Carpenter had two hits and an RBI apiece for the Cardinals.
RED SOX 12, BLUE JAYS 6
In Toronto, David Ortiz and Hanley Ramirez had consecutive homers in an eight-run first inning, Xander Bogaerts had four hits and Boston beat Toronto.
Brock Holt also had four hits and Bogaerts drove in two runs as the last-place Red Sox took three of four from Toronto. Boston had a season-high 19 hits.
Mookie Betts had two hits before teammate Wade Miley (8-7) threw a pitch. Miley won for the third time in four starts and snapped a five-start losing streak against AL East opponents. Miley allowed four runs and seven hits in five innings, walking a season-high seven.
Ortiz hit a three-run homer in Boston’s opening inning and Ramirez followed with a second-deck blast, the fourth time this season the Red Sox have gone back-to-back.
Blue Jays starter Matt Boyd didn’t record an out in his second big league start, leaving after the first seven batters reached safely.
ATHLETICS 4, MARINERS 0
In Oakland, California, Scott Kazmir pitched eight sparkling innings, Marcus Semien homered for the first time in nearly two months as Oakland beat Seattle.
Josh Phegley had a two-run single and Mark Canha added an RBI triple for the A’s, who ended a five-game losing streak against the Mariners.
Kazmir (5-5) retired 21 of his first 22 batters, allowing only a one-out double to Franklin Gutierrez on a 1-2 pitch in the fifth. Gutierrez also singled leading off the eighth, but was erased on a double play.
A possible trade deadline target this month, Kazmir struck out seven and hit a batter while improving to 5-0 in seven starts against the AL West this season.
In other MLB action, it was:
‧ Pirates 8, Tigers 4
‧ Braves 2, Nationals 1
‧ Diamondbacks 8, Rockies 1
‧ Rangers 2, Orioles 0
‧ Cubs 6, Mets 1
‧ Indians 5, Rays 4, 10 inns
‧ Brewers 8, Phillies 7, 11 inns
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