10-year Marliniversary: José Fernández dazzles in only Opening Day start

The life and Major League Baseball career of José Fernández were sadly very short. Although his death brought pain, his efforts on the mound brought joy to baseball fans in South Florida.

On this day 10 years ago, Fernández dazzled in his only Opening Day start. In six innings, the native of Cuba allowed just a run on five hits while striking out nine as the Miami Marlins routed the Colorado Rockies, 10-1.

The National League Rookie of the Year the season before, Fernández took the ball for the opener at Marlins Park on March 31, 2014. Just 21 years old at the time, Fernández worked around a pair of singles in the first inning before retiring the next 10 batters he faced.

After Fernández struck out the side in the top of the third, Marcell Ozuna got the scoring started for Miami with a solo home run off Colorado's Jorge De La Rosa. Fernández again worked around a pair of baserunners in the fourth before pitching a 1-2-3 fifth.

In the bottom of the frame, the Marlins offense erupted with five runs. RBI singles by Adeiny Hechavarria and Giancarlo Stanton pushed the lead to 3-0. Facing Wilton Lopez, Miami's Casey McGehee then unloaded the bases with a three-run double. 

A solo home run from Carlos Gonzalez in the top of the sixth would account for the only run for the Rockies, but Fernández finished his night with a bang by striking out Justin Morneau swinging.

Up 6-1, Miami continued to tack on. Jeff Baker's sacrifice fly got the run back in the sixth. In the eighth, Christian Yelich, Stanton, and McGehee each came through with RBI doubles to cap the scoring.

While Fernández shined on the mound, Ozuna and Hechavarria combined for six hits and five runs scored at the plate. McGehee finished with four RBIs. Gonzalez and Michael Cuddyer each finished with two of the six hits for Colorado in the loss.

Fernández would get off to a splendid start in 2014, but was ultimately forced to have season-ending Tommy John surgery. He finished the year 4-2 with a stellar 2.44 ERA and 70 strikeouts in less than 52 innings of work. Fernández's first victory from the 2014 campaign came on Opening Day one decade ago.