In his 32nd game with the team, outfielder Gorkys Hernandez came close to making Marlins history on Monday night.

Hernandez, who led off Tuesday, was a home run away from becoming the first player in franchise history to hit for the cycle. Hernandez started the night off with a single. Hernandez then doubled in the third and tripled in the fourth — putting him in line for the first natural cycle in baseball since Montreal’s Brad Wilkerson did it in 2003.

A cycle hit in natural order has been done only 14 times in major-league history.

In his fourth at-bat against the Braves, though, Hernandez struck out swinging. Hernandez had one more shot at history in the ninth but didn’t have enough pop on his flyout to left-center field.

“After my triple, a couple of guys talked to me about the cycle. They asked if I could do it in the next at-bat,” Hernandez said with a laugh. “I just went up there wanting to hit the ball hard. If it happened, it would have been good. I almost did it. I did hit it hard.”

Acquired from Pittsburgh in the Gaby Sanchez deal, Hernandez has hit just .205 in his first 83 at-bats.

Escobar’s ban

Manager Ozzie Guillen said Toronto shortstop Yunel Escobar was “trying to be funny” and not trying to offend anyone when he wrote a homophobic slur in Spanish on his eye-black before a game last weekend. Escobar was suspended three games.

“He did it without intention to hurt anyone. In our country, we do that. In this country, there are a lot of sensitive people,” Guillen said. “Maybe some people are going to try and punish him and say he’s a bad kid. He’s not. He did it in fun. But it wasn’t fun, and he’s paying the price.

“... To be honest, in my house, we use that word with the kids every 20 seconds. For us, it’s like, ‘what’s up.’ It’s how you say it, to who you say it. But this isn’t our country. We have to have respect this country and live in it. What may be funny to us isn’t funny to someone else.”

• Slugger Giancarlo Stanton missed his second game in a row with a strained side muscle. Stanton, second in the National League with 34 homers, is expected to miss Wednesday’s game and plans to return Friday. “I’m not going to go out there and not be a help to the team,” he said.

• Coming into Tuesday, the Marlins’ 49 homers at home was better than just four teams (Dodgers, Seattle, San Diego and San Francisco). Despite the power outage, Guillen says the fences will stay right where they are next season.

"We’re not going to move the fence. That’s it,’’ an animated Guillen said, adding that the Marlins should try and reacquire Atlanta’s Dan Uggla for his power.

"You want to be the batting coach here but the fence is too far? Go home. You don’t want to play here because of the fence, go home. We can find players who will play here. It’s a bunch of crap.’’

• Injured outfielder Logan Morrison has been named the Marlins’ nominee for the annual Roberto Clemente Award which recognizes a player "who best represents the game of baseball through positive contributions on and off the field, including sportsmanship and community involvement.’’

Morrison has been very active in the community during his time with the Marlins. Past winners include Cal Ripken Jr., Albert Pujols, Derek Jeter, Ozzie Smith and the late Gary Carter.

Coming up

•  Wednesday: Marlins RHP Josh Johnson (8-12, 3.81 ERA) vs. Atlanta Braves RHP Kris Medlen (8-1, 1.62), 7:10 p.m., Marlins Park.

•  Thursday: Off.

•  Friday: Marlins RHP Jacob Turner (1-2, 3.75) at New York Mets LHP Jonathan Niese (11-9, 3.46), 7:10 p.m., Citi Field, New York.

•  Scouting report: The Marlins will have a pregame ceremony to honor the Braves’ Chipper Jones before Wednesday’s game as the 40-year-old plans to retire after this season. ... The Marlins will give out Jose Reyes bobbleheads to the first 15,000 fans.