CINCINNATI _ Don Mattingly's words of caution proved prophetic.
Sure, ace Jose Fernandez is as talented a pitcher as the Marlins have ever had. He's well on his way to breaking all sorts of franchise records. That he expects himself to habitually dominate _ and then so often goes out and dominants _ makes most of everyone else expect it, too.
"But sometimes," the Marlins manager said Thursday afternoon, "it's not that easy."
On Thursday, it was not that easy. Fernandez turned in one of the worst starts of his career in a 5-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park, throwing only four innings and 65 pitches while allowing five runs. It was the shortest start of Fernandez's career by pitch count and tied for second-shortest by innings.
The Marlins dropped three of four to the cellar-dwelling Reds and are 5-11 in August.
Fernandez, pitching for the first time in a week and a half after having a start skipped to manage his innings load, touched 100 mph with his fastball but fooled nobody. Nine of the 12 balls in play against him were hit hard. The 11 swinging strikes he elicited were among his lowest single-game totals this season.
Ramon Cabrera's three-run home run to right-center in the second inning hurt most, but sharp contact preceded and followed it. In the third, Billy Hamilton scored when he tagged up from second base on a line out to center fielder Marcell Ozuna, whose throw skipped by third baseman Martin Prado. Fernandez was not backing up the play, and Hamilton scooted home.
Eugenio Suarez's ensuing RBI double put Miami in a five-run hole.
By the end of Fernandez's night, his line looked eerily similar to that from his only other start in Cincinnati. On April 18, 2013 _ in his third game as a big leaguer _ Fernandez allowed five runs in four innings in a Marlins loss.
A noteworthy moment in the second inning offered context for how significant of an outlier this was for Fernandez: When he got opposing starter Dan Straily swinging at high heat to end the second inning, Fernandez reached the 200-strikeout plateau for the first time in his career _ and in only 139 2/3 innings. Only Hall of Famer Randy Johnson (130 2/3 innings in 2001) reached that milestone quicker.
Mattingly opted to go to the bullpen early Thursday, lifting Fernandez for a pinch-hitter in the fifth inning. Brian Ellington, Dustin McGowan and Kyle Barraclough combined for four scoreless innings.
The Marlins' lineup, meanwhile, made a game of it. Marcell Ozuna sent a two-run long ball to left field in the sixth inning, his third dinger of the series. Prado's two-run single in the seventh got Miami within a run.
Ichiro Suzuki went 2 for 4. With 3,007 career hits, he is tied with Tigers legend Al Kaline for No. 28 on baseball's all-time hits list.
