MIAMI -- Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle knows just how tough it is to face Miami Marlins right-hander Jose Fernandez.

Hurdle studied the numbers on Fernandez, especially at Marlins Park, and if the manager needed more proof on the veracity of those findings, he saw it first-hand on Tuesday night in a 3-1 loss to Miami at Marlins Park.

Fernandez (8-2) allowed three hits -- all singles -- and no walks while striking out six in seven scoreless innings. He has earned a win in each of his past seven starts, a career best.

In his career at home, Fernandez is 22-1 with a 1.59 ERA.

"Oh my gosh -- get behind home plate and watch it," Hurdle said when asked about Fernandez's stuff. "It's almost like a Whiffle-ball breaking ball. And then he throws the fastball at 98 (mph), and you have to guess to hit that."

Fernandez got 10 ground-ball outs to just four in the air.

But as good as Fernandez was, the Marlins had to survive a shaky ninth inning from closer A.J. Ramos, who walked two batters and allowed a single as the Pirates loaded the bases with no outs. Gregory Polanco, who hit his first career grand slam on Monday, nearly got another one as he flew out to the warning track in center field for a sacrifice fly.

"No," Polanco said when asked if he thought he had a homer. "I knew I could have hit it better."

After that near miss for the Pirates, Jung Ho Kang struck out looking at a curveball, and Starling Marte flew out to right to end the game, giving Ramos his 16th save of the season.

That escape allowed the attention to go back to Fernandez, 23, who got the best of Gerrit Cole, 25, in a battle of hard-throwing young right-handers who have already made one All-Star Game each.

Hurdle said Fernandez is unpredictable in his pitching patterns and also very confident. But Fernandez deflected credit.

"The Pirates have a really good lineup," Fernandez said, "and Cole was throwing the ball really well."

Cole (5-4) allowed nine hits, two walks and three runs in 6 1/3 innings. He gave up all three of his runs in the seventh.

"I just didn't make enough quality pitches," said Cole, who went 19-8 last year. "That (seventh) inning went south."

Indeed, with runners on first and second and one out in that inning, Christian Yelich pulled a 3-2 slider to right field for his big hit. Cole then threw a wild pitch on a 97-mph fastball. J.T. Realmuto scored on the play, barely beating Cole's tag.

"It was close," Cole said of the play. "But I didn't think I had him."

Justin Bour capped the inning with an RBI groundout.

"Both pitchers are tough," Yelich said of Fernandez and Cole. "We knew we were going to have to execute when we got our chances."

Early on, though, it was Cole who was executing, escaping a major jam with no runs in the third inning. A single by Ichiro Suzuki and a double by Realmuto gave the Marlins runners on second and third with no outs.

But Cole struck out Yelich swinging at an inside slider, got Marcell Ozuna on a groundout -- Suzuki was thrown out at the plate -- and the inning ended when Bour was caught looking at strike three on a 98-mph fastball.

The Marlins threatened again in the sixth, loading the bases with one out. But Chris Johnson lined out and Adeiny Hechavarria flew out to end the inning with a 0-0 score.

"It was a fun ball game," Cole said, "for about six innings."

The Marlins (27-25) and Pirates (29-22) have split the first two of a four-game series. The first two games of this series had been scheduled for Puerto Rico but were moved back to Miami because of health-related concerns regarding the Zika virus.

NOTES: Marlins RF Ichiro Suzuki increased his MLB hit total to 2,963, tying Sam Crawford for 31st place on the all-time list. ... LHP Mike Dunn (forearm), who missed Miami's first 51 games, was activated. He made 72 relief appearances for Miami last year and is the only lefty in the Marlins bullpen. ... Miami designated RHP Edwin Jackson, 32, for assignment. Jackson had a 5.91 ERA in eight relief appearances this year. ... Marlins 2B Miguel Rojas, who hurt his shoulder on Monday, said the injury is not serious. ... Marlins RF Giancarlo Stanton (sore right side) missed his seventh straight start. ... Pirates RF Gregory Polanco had his left shoulder wrapped in ice before Monday's game -- just a few hours before he hit the first grand slam of his career. ... Wednesday's game matches two left-handers with similar numbers -- Miami's Adam Conley (4.15 ERA) against Pittsburgh's Jon Niese (4.42 ERA). Conley, though, has struggled in his past four starts -- a 5.95 ERA and a .370 batting average allowed.