ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Miami Marlins ace Jose Fernandez won in his old backyard for the first time, striking out 12 batters in seven innings as Miami cruised to a 9-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays on Thursday afternoon at Tropicana Field.

Fernandez (7-2), a first-round pick out of Tampa's Alonso High School in 2011, had lost in two previous starts at the Trop, but got plenty of run support Thursday, earning a win for the sixth straight start. The Marlins (25-22) took three of four games from their in-state rivals, while the Rays (21-24) saw their bats held in check for the second day in a row.

Miami jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning, getting a two-run home run from Adeiny Hechavarria, his third of the season, and Chris Johnson added another two-run home run in the third for a 5-0 lead on Rays starter Drew Smyly (2-6). Miami entered the game with the NL's best average against left-handers and had six hits in six innings off Smyly.

Fernandez's 12 strikeouts are his most since he had 13 on Opening Day, and it's also the most against the Rays this season, trumping the 11 from Detroit's Michael Fulmer. Every Rays starter struck out at least once, with Steven Souza Jr. going down three times. Fernandez had just one walk in his 111-pitch outing.

The Rays got their lone run on a solo home run by Brandon Guyer -- his sixth -- in the fourth inning. Miami padded its lead with three runs in the eighth on five straight hits off reliever Ryan Garton, who made his major-league debut.

Garton pitched a scoreless seventh before struggling in the eighth. Miami finished with 15 hits, one short of its season high.

The Rays stay home with a three-game series against the Yankees, while the Marlins head to Atlanta for a three-game series with the Braves.

NOTES: The Marlins placed RHP Bryan Morris on the 15-day disabled list (retroactive to May 25) with a lumbar disc herniation in his lower back. Miami recalled RHP Nick Wittgren from Triple-A New Orleans to take his place -- in two previous stints with the Marlins, Wittgren is 0-0 with a 3.18 ERA in 5 2/3 innings. ... The Marlins entered the game with an NL-best .295 team batting average against left-handed pitchers, the second-best mark in the majors behind Boston. CF Marcell Ozuna leads all major leaguers with at least 30 plate appearances with a .485 average against lefties. ... Not only did the Rays enter the game tied for the major-league lead with 66 home runs -- that's also 13 more than the team has ever had after 44 games and 25 more than they'd hit at this point last season.