Dee Gordon and the Miami Marlins wore their emotions on the sleeves of their No. 16 jerseys. Jose Fernandez would have loved it.
Gordon homered leading off the first inning for the host Marlins, who totaled 14 hits and mixed cheers with the tears of the past two days by beating the New York Mets 7-3 on Monday night in their first game since Fernandez died in a boating accident at age 24.
"We were hitting balls underwater pretty much," slugger Giancarlo Stanton said. "Our eyes were full of water."
Adam Conley pitched three scoreless innings subbing for Fernandez, who had been scheduled to make his final start of the year. Justin Bour went 3-for-3 and Gordon had four hits, including one that will go down in Marlins lore.
Paying tribute to their charismatic ace, the lefthanded-hitting Gordon stepped to the plate as a righty leading off the first. After one pitch, Gordon switched to his customary left side, and pulled a 2-0 delivery from Bartolo Colon into the upper deck for his first homer of the year.
The improbable clout brought tears, even from Gordon. He began crying as he circled the bases.
"It seemed like it took forever," he said. "I was trying to get back to my teammates as fast as possible. I was just wondering why Jose wasn't there standing on the top step cheering for me."
After crossing the plate, Gordon tapped his chest and waved toward the sky, and sobbed as teammates hugged him in the dugout.
