5-Year Marliniversary: Fernandez Ks Career-High 14 in 1-0 Win Over Braves

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Former Miami Marlins' pitcher Jose Fernandez was something to see. A native of Cuba, Fernandez wore his emotions on his sleeve and was filled with enthusiasm on the mound before his unexpected death in 2016.

On this day five years ago, the young Fernandez, then a second-year pitcher, struck out a career-high 14 Atlanta Braves at Turner Field. Fernandez was flawless in a 1-0 win for the Marlins.

An RBI single by Casey McGhee to score Giancarlo Stanton in the fourth inning would provide all the scoring in the contest. That would be all that Fernandez needed.

The Marlins were just 8-10 on the season when they arrived at Turner Field on April 22, 2014 to face the 13-6 Atlanta Braves. Throughout the evening, Atlanta managed just three hits.

Fernandez struck out one batter in each of the first three innings before striking out the side in the fourth and fifth. Two of the three hits for the Braves off Fernandez came in the eighth inning. With two runners on and two outs, Fernandez was able to get out of trouble by inducing Ryan Doumit into a comebacker back to the mound to end the threat.

Steve Cishek would work a perfect ninth to pick up the save for Miami. Fernandez worked eight scoreless innings while allowing just the three hits and no walks while striking out 14. Freddie Freeman, Justin Upton, Dan Uggla and Evan Gattis each whiffed four times against Fernandez.


With the win, Fernandez improved to 3-1 and lowered his ERA below two during what would be an injury-shorted season for the 2013 National League Rookie of the Year. Fernandez would never best his feat of 14 strikeouts, but he would equal it three times during his All-Star season of 2016. The first time it happened however, came on this day five years ago.

Mike Ferguson is the founder of Marlins Memories. Follow Mike on Twitter @MikeWFerguson.

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