Throughout Florida/Miami Marlins history, the West Coast has been the scene for some pretty memorable firsts, including its first regular season series victory, first playoff series victory, and first home run.

On this day 30 years ago, San Diego was the scene for a few firsts for the Florida Marlins. Chris Hammond became the first Marlins pitcher to hit a home run as the franchise completed its first three-game sweep with a 9-2 win over the San Diego Padres.

The Marlins had used stellar pitching performances from Charlie Hough and Luis Aquino to take the first two games as they arrived at Jack Murphy Stadium for the series finale on June 6, 1993. Hammond would continue that tradition, but also put on a show at the plate.

San Diego nearly got the scoring started against Hammond in the bottom of the second on a single from Bob Geren, but Tim Teufel was thrown out at the plate by Jeff Conine in left field to end the inning and keep the game scoreless. Florida got the scoring started in the third with a two-run double to right from Orestes Destrade.

Down 2-0, San Diego cut the lead in half in the bottom of the inning with an unearned run on an RBI double from Derek Bell. Any momentum that the Padres may have had, however, was short-lived, thanks to Hammond.

With two outs and nobody on in the top of the fourth, Hammond worked a nine-pitch at-bat against Doug Brocail. On the final pitch, the Florida hurler pulled one over the wall in right field for a solo home run—the first in Marlins history by a pitcher.

Hammond continued to shine on the mound, allowing just an earned run in 7 2/3 innings. Hammond was able to work around nine hits and three walks.

The lefty, however, wasn’t done contributing at the plate. After the Marlins pushed across two runs in the sixth to extend the lead to 5-1, Hammond reached on an error in the eighth before scoring on Bret Barberie’s three-run home run. An RBI single from Benito Santiago later in the inning would cap the scoring for the Marlins. The Padres scored their lone earned run off Hammond in the bottom of the eighth on a Teufel sacrifice fly.

Another interesting tidbit from the contest is that it marked the second straight day that Trevor Hoffman closed the game for the Marlins. Neither was a save situation, but Hoffman would go on to have an illustrious career in the back of the San Diego bullpen.

When it came to Marlins pitchers that day, however, the story was Hammond. In two total stints and five total seasons with the Marlins, Hammond would go 29-32 with a 4.52 ERA on the mound while hitting .196 with three home runs at the plate. He became the franchise’s first pitcher to go deep on this day three decades ago.

Photo courtesy of Getty Images