Bigger than a game: Marlins, city unite amid tragedy

MIAMI — The emotionally draining three-game series ended on Wednesday night where it started, with grieving players gathering on the mound and in their own way paying respect to Jose Fernandez.

With their 5-2 loss to the Mets at Marlins Park, Miami is officially eliminated from National League Wild Card contention. But in the darkest hour, the players never lost sight of the importance to bond together in the face of tragedy.

“I feel everybody came together,” said third baseman Martin Prado, the glue to the club. “I’ve never seen anything like this — how we came together. I’ve never seen anything like this. How we created that bubble, and we were trying to protect ourselves and care about every single guy in this room. The entire organization, the city of Miami, it seems to me the human part of everybody in this room came along throughout this entire situation.”

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