30-year Marliniversary: Hernández makes MLB debut as Marlins rout Braves

[Mike Ferguson]

Still one of the most iconic stories in Florida/Miami Marlins history, Cuban defector Liván Hernández was one of the heroes in Florida’s run to the 1997 World Series and the series’ MVP as a 22-year-old rookie. His debut, however, came during the 1996 season – on this day 30 years ago.

In what would be his only appearance of the 1996 season, Hernández threw three scoreless innings of relief. He also showed what he could do with the bat in a 12-1 rout of the Atlanta Braves.

Florida was up 11-1 in the top of the sixth inning on Sept. 24, 1996 at Pro Player Stadium when Hernández got to call to keep momentum going after a stellar outing from starter Pat Rapp. The Cuban right-hander did just that.

In the sixth inning, Hernández was able to work around two singles to pitch a scoreless frame, which included his first career strikeout. After giving up a single to Javier López on the first pitch of his big-league career, Hernández fanned Dwight Smith swinging.

In the seventh, Hernández was again able to work out of trouble. He allowed a single to Luis Polonia and a walk to Chipper Jones to start the inning but responded by getting Andruw Jones to ground into a double play. One pitch later, Eddie Pérez popped out to end the Atlanta threat.

In the bottom of that inning, Hernández proved that he was no slouch at the dish. With one out, Hernández pulled Joe Borowski’s offering through the left side for his first career hit in his first career at-bat. He would cap the scoring later in the inning by coming around from second base on Jerry Brooks’ RBI single.

Now up 12-1, Hernández struck out Smith for the second time for the second out of the eighth inning. Following a two-out walk, Hernández got Mike Mordecai to pop out to conclude a successful outing. Jay Powell worked a 1-2-3 ninth to seal the win.

While Hernández shined in his debut, it was far from a one-man show. Rapp had given the Marlins five solid innings, allowing just a run on seven hits and three walks. Hernández scattered three hits and two walks in his three scoreless innings of relief.

For the Marlins, it was domination from the start. Florida raced to a 6-0 lead with a six-running first inning, which featured seven straight two-out hits. After Jeff Conine doubled home Luis Castillo for the first run, Devon White, Greg Colbrunn, Kurt Abbott, Charles Johnson, Rapp and Castillo each followed with singles. Only Colbrunn’s hit did not produce a run. Following Rapp’s RBI single, Braves manager Bobby Cox pulled starter Steve Avery.

The Braves broke up the shutout with a run in the fourth, but the Marlins answered with three runs in the bottom of the inning, thanks to a sacrifice fly from Édgar Rentería and a two-run double from White. An RBI groundout from Castillo and RBI single from Rentería in the fifth extended the lead to 11-1.

As a team, Florida finished with 21 hits, led by Castillo’s three. Conine, White, Jesús Tavárez, Colbrunn and Johnson each had two knocks. White led the Marlins with three RBIs while Castillo, Conine and Johnson each scored twice.

Just a run-of-the-mill September call-up at the time, Hernández would go on to be one of the more significant figures in Marlins history. He spent parts of four seasons with the team and was the Opening Day starting pitcher in 1998. Hernández made his big-league debut in what would be his only relief outing for the Fish on this day three decades ago.

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[Jose Herrera]

I read this and was like "wow look at all the players the Braves had" only to realize we were still the better team😎