The rally came against the Marlins’ normally reliable A.J. Ramos, who entered with 31 saves and suffered only his second blown save in 33 chances.
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The Chicago Cubs look to stay red hot after a win at home yesterday against the Miami Marlins as the two sides meet up on Wednesday afternoon at Wrigley.
Chicago cut it to 4-2 when Dexter Fowler scored on Fernando Rodney’s wild pitch.
Prior to Sunday the Cubs had only one walkoff win this year.
John Lackey got into first-inning trouble. The start will be his first since 2015. The Chicago White Sox might have been dangling left-hander Chris Sale (14-4, 3.17 ERA) or Jose Quintana (8-8, 2.89 ERA), but not necessarily to the crosstown Cubs without a hefty premium attached.
The Cubs tied the game in the sixth.
He was no match for Hendricks, who pitched a seven-hitter for his second career shutout and providing the Chicago’s bullpen a needed breather.
Unfortunately, Lackey got himself in trouble by hitting Derek Dietrich. They lead the second-place Cardinals by nine games in the NL Central. Anthony Rizzo finished a home run shy of the cycle and reached base five times. That made it 3-1. Oh, and two doubles. It’s one of those you don’t really want to go to Zobrist, but you don’t want Rizzo to beat you, either.
Rookie Max Kepler had three two-run homers and six RBIs. Yelich then homered to right in the next inning, giving the Marlins a 4-1 lead.
Jeff Mathis launched a two-run home run to give Miami the lead in the seventh inning.
Lackey opposes right-hander Tom Koehler, who didn’t get a decision when he faced the Cubs on June 24 in Miami and allowed four runs and seven hits over six innings in a 5-4 Chicago victory. Hopefully that changes going forward.
Grimm got two easy outs and then gave up an infield hit to Dee Gordon and a walk before he struck out Yelich to end the ninth.
And that’s when the fun really started.
Marlins LF Christian Yelich, who went 1 for 4, has hit safely in all 10 games he’s played at Wrigley Field. Baez singled him to third and Szczur walked to load the bases.
His fastball was “flying out”, his changeup was “out of the zone” and his slider was “hit and miss”. He caught it, and conceded the Cubs’ third run and Baez going to third – but he didn’t notice Szczur trying to take second.
Kris Bryant was struck out looking on a 3-2 pitch for the second out, and it looked as if Ramos might escape.
That brought up Contreras. Chicago’s winning run crossed the plate on a wild pitch with the bases loaded. “No matter what happens, I’m at peace with myself”, Rodriguez said Tuesday. Suzuki, two hits away from 3,000 for his career, ended the series 0-for-3 in three pinch-hit appearances.
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Maddon said he hasn’t decided how he’ll employ the designated hitter during this weekend’s three-game series in Oakland, still needing to go over the matchup calculus with the A’s starting pitchers. Jon Lester will throw the series opener against Dillon Overton.
