CINCINNATI -- During spring training, Dan Straily wasn't sure where his career was headed after he was traded by one team and placed on waivers by another.

"I didn't know where I was going to be," Straily said. "I just wanted to keep that carrot out there."

The Cincinnati Reds claimed Straily off waivers and he's since become one of their most dependable starting pitchers.

Straily outpitched Jose Fernandez on Thursday, and Ramon Cabrera hit his second career home run with a three-run shot in the second inning as Cincinnati held on for a 5-4 victory over the Miami Marlins in the finale of a four-game series at Great American Ball Park.

With the loss, the Marlins trail by 2 1/2 games in the race for the second wild-card spot in the National League.

Since the All-Star break, Cincinnati has gone 19-12 and has won eight of 10 series.

"We've been firing on all cylinders," Straily said. "We finally have a group of guys here who are playing really well. This is how we expected to play."

Fernandez (12-7) eclipsed the 200-strikeout mark in the second inning. But, not much else went right for the Marlins' ace as he gave up five runs and lasted only four innings.

It was the first time Fernandez faced the Reds on the road since his rookie season in 2013, when he also gave up five runs in four frames.

"From there, things got better," Fernandez said. "I hope they get better this time, too"

Miami trailed 5-0 in the sixth when Marcell Ozuna belted his 22nd home run of the season, a two-run shot to make the score 5-2.

That was the only mistake for Straily (9-6) who allowed two runs on six hits over six innings. He struck out seven and did not walk a batter.

A throwing error by Jumbo Diaz to begin the seventh led to two runs with Martin Prado delivering a two-out, two-run single to cut Miami's deficit to 5-4.

Raisel Iglesias, whom the Reds want to look at as their future closer, pitched a perfect ninth for his second save of the season and his career.

Thursday's game certainly didn't start the way the Marlins typically expect with Fernandez on the mound.

Cincinnati had several hard-hit balls off the Miami ace before Cabrera, who owned one career home run in 130 major league at-bats, crushed a 1-0 pitch into the right-field seats for a three-run homer, putting the Reds ahead 3-0.

"That set a tone for us to get ahead of one of baseball's better starters," Price said.

Cincinnati scored three times, collected four hits and had two line-drive outs in the first two innings.

"Obviously, they were squaring a lot of stuff up," Marlins manager Don Mattingly said. "I haven't seen the replay of the pitches yet, but balls kind of at the beltline and in the center of the plate are going to get hit."

The Reds weren't finished.

In the third, Billy Hamilton singled and later scored on a throwing error. Eugenio Suarez's RBI double made the score 5-0.

Fernandez left after four innings and 65 pitches. It was his shortest outing of the season and skipping his last turn in the rotation in an effort to limit his innings. Miami would like to keep him around the 180 mark.

Straily, meanwhile, limited the Marlins to only three hits through five innings with six strikeouts before the Reds' bullpen nailed down a one-run victory.

"They've got pretty good plate discipline one through nine," Straily said of Miami. "I had to fight for each out. Couple of guys who don't normally swing at first pitches did. That kept me in the game."

NOTES: Jose Fernandez became the sixth Marlins pitcher to reach 200 strikeouts in a season, first since Anibal Sanchez fanned 202 in 2011. Fernandez needs five strikeouts to tie Ryan Dempster's club mark of 209 set in 2000. ... Ichiro Suzuki's two hits tied him with Al Kaline for 28th place on baseball's all-time hits list with 3,007. ... Marlins RHP A.J. Ramos remains on track to be reinstated from the disabled list on Sunday provided he gets through his simulated game on Friday without issue. ... The Reds expect RHP Michael Lorenzen to be reinstated from the bereavement list on Friday. ... Reds LF Adam Duvall is expected to miss at least two more games after he fouled a pitch off his left foot on Monday. ... Reds SS Zack Cozart is having lingering issues with his surgically repaired knee. He did not play on Thursday.