Marlins on the short end of back-and-forth game

ST. PETERSBURG -- For a team fresh off a series full of action, fireworks and final-frame decisions, the Marlins couldn’t get over the hump on Saturday night, falling 8-6 to the Rays in the series opener at Tropicana Field.

Three times Miami led the game, and each time, Tampa Bay stole back the momentum in the bottom half of the same inning. It was no doubt a frustrating reversal of fortunes to answer each surge, but the Marlins kept fighting, stringing together nine hits to remain close before Willy Adames’ solo homer in the eighth provided the deciding blow.

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With the loss, Miami fell to 8-8 in Interleague play and 0-3 in the Citrus Series this season. It marked the seventh time this year the Marlins lost when scoring at least six runs.

“It was a good game; it was back and forth,” said right fielder Brian Anderson. “But it seemed like every time we put up some runs, they answered right back.

“Those are the fun games you have in baseball. It’s a tough loss for us, but our guys did everything we could ask. We kept battling, kept fighting and we just came up a little bit short.”

When Miguel Rojas led off the game with a double to left field, he started the Marlins off on the right foot and also extended his career-high hitting streak to 10 games. It set the tone for the seesaw battle to come that featured six lead changes.

Starlin Castro slugged a two-run homer to straightaway center field, Jon Berti doubled and stole a pair of bases and Adam Conley worked two scoreless innings of relief, but the Marlins were without the late-game push that saw them force the Twins to extras on Thursday before downing the red-hot American League Central leaders with a walk-off homer in the 12th.

The battle began early. Miami’s talented youngster Elieser Hernández made his second start since rejoining the rotation and struggled with control, allowing five runs and issuing four walks in his three innings. The runs allowed marked a career high for a start and the three innings a career low.

“Unfortunately, I didn’t bring much today,” he said through interpreter Luis Dorante. “I didn’t have much today, to be honest. So whatever I had, I tried competing and staying in the game.”

Many of Hernandez's free passes came back to haunt him, as he walked Avisail Garcia to lead off the second inning just prior to an Eric Sogard home run that gave the Rays a 2-1 lead. Hernandez also walked the first two hitters in the third inning, then secured two outs before yielding a three-run home run to Sogard that again pushed Tampa Bay ahead by a run, this time, 5-4.

“The walks hurt us, and I think -- like we’ve talked about so many times -- when you see that catcher moving his glove to catch it, a lot of times you pay for those,” manager Don Mattingly said. “Elieser didn’t have a lot of room for mistakes. He’s got to locate with his fastball. Today, it didn’t work.”

Neil Walker, who played catalyst on Thursday with a two-run single in the ninth, wasn’t around to spark a rally on Saturday. The Marlins’ first baseman collided with Kevin Kiermaier as he attempted to tag out the Rays center fielder in the fifth inning and was replaced by pinch-hitter Martin Prado in the seventh inning.

He is day to day with a jammed right index finger.