CLEVELAND _Before Jose Fernandez had so much as thrown a pitch Saturday, the Miami Marlins had to be licking their chops. They not only had their ace on the mound, but gave him three runs to start with.
So much for dream scenarios.
Fernandez gave the lead back in a hurry in a drubbing unlike few he's experienced before, giving up a career-high 12 hits in a 8-3 loss to the Indians at Progressive Field.
It was yet another demoralizing setback for the fading Marlins, who have lost seven of their past eight and are looking nothing like the Wild Card contender they are pretending to be.
Not even a three-run lead in the hands of their best pitcher is safe anymore.
The Marlins had scored three runs on three hits in the first off Indians starter Trevor Bauer. They never scored another run _ and collected only one more hit, a ninth-inning single _ the rest of the game.
Fernandez, meanwhile, gave up plenty of both.
Jason Kipnis clubbed a two-run home run off Fernandez in the first, one of six extra-base hits the Indians tallied off Fernandez, who had never given up more than five in any previous outing.
And the Indians managed to record those six extra-base hits _ five doubles and a homer _ before Fernandez recorded his first out in the third. He would exit in the sixth after giving up a dozen hits, one more than his previous high.
The top three hitters in the Indians' lineup _ Coco Crisp, Kipnis and Francisco Lindor _ combined to go 9 for 12 against Fernandez.
