Miami Marlins starting pitcher Jose Fernandez looked like a savvy veteran when he got out of a jam in the third inning against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night. With two out and runners on second and third, Braves third baseman Ramiro Pena hit a slow roller down the third base line. Fernandez was the only one able to make a play on the ball.
As Fernandez went to field the ball with his bare hand, Atlanta infielder Tyler Pastornicky was breaking from third. Pastornicky waited for Fernandez to throw the ball to first so he didn’t run into the final out of the inning. There was only one problem — Fernandez never threw the ball to first.
The righthander faked Pastornicky into thinking he fired to first. Fernandez then turned around to try to tag Pastornicky, but he was able to avoid it. Fortunately for the Marlins, Fernandez still made a great flip to home plate for the out.
Pena was going to beat the throw to first. Had Fernandez not made the clever play, a run likely would have scored and the Braves would have had runners on the corners. Instead, Miami went on to shut out Atlanta. Nice work, Jose.
Video via Jimmy Traina’s The Big Buzz
