WASHINGTON -- Bryce Harper returned to the lineup, but neither his bat nor spot starter A.J. Cole helped the Washington Nationals in their pursuit of home-field advantage opening the playoffs.Christian Yelich homered and Dee Gordons infield single in the sixth inning scored the go-ahead run as the Miami Marlins beat the NL East champion Nationals 6-4 on Friday night.The game began following a 1 hour, 43 minute rain delay. The series opener came a day after a memorial service in Florida for Jose Fernandez. The Marlins ace died in a boating accident Sunday.Washington entered its final series of the season with a two-game lead on the Los Angeles Dodgers for home field advantage in the NL Division Series. Los Angeles played at San Francisco on Friday night.Harper went 0 for 4 with four strikeouts in his return to the Nationals lineup after sitting out the previous four days with a left thumb injury.He was rusty, Nationals manager Dusty Baker said of the right fielder. Weve got to get that rust off him before we start the playoffs.Harper said of his plate appearances, I felt great. My swing felt great.Anthony Rendon and Stephen Drew hit back-to-back home runs for Washington in a four-run fourth after Miami scored twice in the top of the inning for a 4-0 lead.Miami used five relievers including Mike Dunn (6-1). A.J. Ramos pitched the ninth for his 40th save.Sammy Solis (2-4) allowed one run in 1 1/3 innings for Washington.The Nationals honored Fernandez with a pregame video montage, by placing his No. 16 behind the pitchers mound and his jersey in their dugout. A mutual tipping of the caps across the field between players from both teams occurred as well.Nice touch by the Nationals, Marlins manager Don Mattingly said of the mound gesture. It seems like everyone has that feel for Jose. The way he carried himself and the fun that he had was really what you loved so much about him, that little kid, and that part is what seems like has taken hold on a lot of people around baseball and a lot of people around the country.Neither starting pitcher went beyond four innings and both allowed four runs. Two runs off Cole, the first of eight pitchers for Washington, were unearned.Cole, who lasted three innings, is awaiting appeal of his five-game suspension for throwing behind Pittsburghs Jung Ho Kang on Sunday.Miamis Andrew Cashner unraveled in the fourth, allowing five hits and one walk. Jose Lobotons RBI double and Trea Turners run-scoring single in the fourth tied the game 4-4.Over the final five innings, the Nationals went 0 for 15 with 10 strikeouts and one walk.Left fielder Jayson Werth left as a precaution in the seventh inning with back tightness. He anticipates playing Saturday.Were playing for home-field advantage, which is important. But once you win the division, theres that exhale and sigh of relief, Werth said. Theres a balance there and you err on the side of caution.Yelich drove in two runs. Justin Bour had a double and two RBI singles and he scored on the hustling Gordons single off Oliver Perez.Rendon became the sixth National with at least 20 home runs this season. The 1965 Milwaukee Braves, 2003 Atlanta Braves and 2016 St. Louis Cardinals, who reached the mark later Friday, are the only other NL teams in history with six 20-plus homers.HEARTFELT MESSAGEThe Arizona Diamondbacks occupied the visitors locker room this week before Miami arrived. When the Marlins arrived, they found a touching note on a dry erase board regarding the loss of Fernandez. Dee Gordon had the most important HR of the year. Good luck fellas. Were (sic) praying for you. RIP. JF 16 -- DBacks.BABY ON BOARDNationals OF Chris Heisey is away from the team as he returned home for the birth of his second child. He is the second player on the team to leave for this reason in recent weeks. This team is a baby-making team, Baker cracked. Heisey is expected back in Washington on Saturday.TRAINERS ROOMMarlins: Mattingly said LHP Adam Conley, who came off the DL on Monday to throw three shutout innings, will be available the last two days of the season. Conley missed more than six weeks with a finger injury.Nationals: 2B Daniel Murphy (glute muscle), who last began a game on Sept. 17, isnt expected back in the starting lineup until Game 1 of the NLDS.UP NEXTMarlins LHP Wei-Yin Chen (5-4, 5.02) is set to face Nationals RHP Tanner Roark (15-10, 2.86), who needs a win to set a career-high. Stitched Pirates Jerseys . 9. Price, heading to the 2014 Olympics for Canada, was named the First Star after posting wins in three starts with a 1.00 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage. Pittsburgh Pirates Pro Shop . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. https://www.cheappiratesjerseys.us/ . LeBron James and Chris Bosh didnt need any more. Williams scored 11 points in 10 minutes, Alan Anderson scored 17 points, and the Brooklyn Nets finished the exhibition season with a 108-87 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night. Custom Pittsburgh Pirates Jerseys . He was followed closely by David Clarkson, donning red, seconds later. Clarksons actions one night earlier, leaping off the bench in defence of Kessel during a pre-season game against the Buffalo Sabres, will cost him the first 10 games of the regular season. Pirates Jerseys 2019 . -- Edmontons Val Sweeting is two wins away from a trip to Winnipeg to play in Canadas Road of the Rings in December. NEW YORK -- Huston Street believes in some of baseballs oldest, tried-and-true traditions, and the reliever knows team building can be a real benefit, so he considers the elimination of rookie dress up in the new labor deal the loss of a healthy ritual.The Los Angeles Angels closer, like many players expressing their views Tuesday, disagrees with Major League Baseballs ban on the hazing ritual of dressing up rookies in costumes that could be considered offensive, including womens outfits.An effort to show our childlike spirit, or humble ourselves in wearing something funny as a team building moment, is now gone, Street wrote in an email to The Associated Press, but rest assured some other ritual will rise, will be kept far more secret and hopefully its as safe and harmless as uncomfortable clothes.Baseball owners and players ratified their five-year labor contract Tuesday, which contains a new Anti-Hazing and Anti-Bullying Policy formulated by management, rules the union agreed not to contest.New York Mets rookie outfielder Brandon Nimmo was among the last group to participate this past season. In September, he had to wear a wig and dress in the style of the 1992 movie A League of Their Own while fetching coffee and doughnuts in Philadelphia.I guess Im sad to see that go. Im glad that I got to partake in it last year. Wouldnt trade that, Nimmo said at the teams Citi Field holiday party. I felt like it just kind of brought the team closer together, lets have a little fun together.Many retired players were outraged, taking to social media to show their disgust.What a joke!! tweeted Mark Mulder, a big league pitcher from 2000-08.Yet for baseball officials, the decision goes far beyond just good-natured fun.Billy Bean, a big league infielder and outfielder from 1987-95 who came out as gay in 1999, spoke with MLBs labor lawyers as the policy was developed as part of his role as vice president for social responsibility and inclusion.To me its important to be cognizant of the images that our players project to our fans, and I think where for many where it would seem that its common sense that its just all in good fun and being silly, there are many sides to the story and I just think that its a responsible thing to do, he said during a telephone interview. Many players didnt like this tradition but were afraid to speak up.Still, players were stunned.Remember, youre doing this not because you look different or because youre from some far corner of the globe. In fact youre doing this for reasons that couldnt be more opposite, former pitcher Dallas Braden wrote to The AP. Youre one of us. Youre here now, youve made it, youve earned it. Youre a BIG LEAGUER and in the big leagues we dress up and sing just like the Cy Youngs & MVPs who came before us.Many took to social media to express disappointment.Seriously?! Had to wear a Hooters outfit going through customs in Toronto and wore it proudly (because) I was in the Show, former Boston star Kevin Youkilis wrote before deleting the tweet, adding Waay more important topics and problems in the world that need attention.ddddddddddddos Angeles Dodgers pitcher Ross Stripling tweeted a photo of himself and teammates sporting cheerleading uniforms , saying, honored to be one of the last players ever to be dressed up as a woman.Cody Ponce, taken by Milwaukee with the 55th overall draft pick in 2015, tweeted: I looked forward to the whole dressing up as a rookie in the MLB! I never saw it as hazing, just some fun!MLB executives were concerned about photos of rookie dress-ups that appear on social media and might offend some fans and business partners.The world has gotten 2 damn sensitive! This has been a time honored tradition, tweeted Aubrey Huff, a major leaguer from 2000-12 who liked to show off his lucky red rally thong. The world is full of sensitive snowflakes.Vernon Wells, a three-time All-Star during a career that spanned 1999-2013, wondered what was next.BREAKING NEWS: Fans are no longer allowed to heckle players because it hurts their feelings, he tweeted.Many outside the sport thought it was about time baseball comported with the norms of other industries.By banning the hazing of rookies by having them dress in feminine presenting clothing, MLB draws closer to minimizing and hopefully ending discrimination and harassment based on gender identity and expression, wrote Hudson Taylor, founder and executive director of AthleteAlly, an advocacy group that describes itself as a straight ally that stands in solidarity with the LGBT community.Colorado general manager Jeff Bridich views costumes as distinct from hazing that involves violence.If were getting so P.C. either as an industry or as a society that we cant make fun of ourselves at times, that would be, I think, harmful to the game in a certain way, he said.Mets general manager Sandy Alderson, a veteran of Dartmouth, Harvard Law School and the Marines, said he had not heard any complaints but still had some concerns.Ive seen it in the military and, for all the camaraderie its supposed to promote, its divisive and I think undercuts morale and so youve got to be very careful about that, he said. Is it constructive? Is it useful? Is it juvenile? Its probably juvenile. Its probably not useful or constructive in too many ways.Superheroes such as Batman and Spider-Man are still allowed, but Wonder Woman, Hooters Girls, Dallas Cowboys cheerleaders, the U.S. Olympic womens gymnastics team, ballet tutus and Lady Gaga are now banned.Mets pitcher Noah Syndergaard described teammate Curtis Granderson as the ringleader when the rookie right-hander dressed as the title character from He-Man and the Masters of the Universe at Cincinnati in 2015.Its not really embarrassing for us, Syndergaard said. It was a fun time. Its part of it. Just got to embrace it.---McCauley reported from Oakland, California.AP Sports Writer Pat Graham in Denver contributed to this report. ' ' '