After almost four hours and 14 innings, the Miami Marlins departed Chicago on Sunday with their first victory of May, and they headed to Phoenix, where they will open a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday.
Fittingly, the Marlins’ 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs that snapped a five-game losing streak was a one-run victory.
Miami improved to 11-0 in one-run games this season, tying the major league record for most victories in one-run contests to begin a season. The mark was set by the New York Mets in 1972.
Garrett Hampson, who opened the 14th inning at second base as the automatic runner and advanced to third on a groundout by Luis Arraez, scored the game-winner on a balk by Adbert Alzolay. Andrew Nardi then blanked the Cubs in the bottom half of the inning to notch his first career save.
“Just proud of them,” Miami manager Skip Schumaker said of his players after the latest tight victory. “That is not an easy win right there, especially after what happened (on Saturday).”
The previous day, the Marlins gave up three runs in the bottom of the eighth to blow a 2-1 lead and lose 4-2 to the Cubs.
“There were a lot of good things that happened (Sunday) that you can build off of, and hopefully that long flight to Arizona is a lot happier than it would have been if we got walked off there,” Schumaker said. “You always want to break the (losing) streak.”
Left-hander Braxton Garrett (1-1, 5.81 ERA) will try to make it two wins in a row for the Marlins on Monday when he opposes right-hander Zac Gallen (4-1, 2.53).
Garrett will try to move on from one of the worst starts in Marlins history. He gave up 11 runs on 14 hits over 4 1/3 innings in a 14-6 loss to the Atlanta Braves on Wednesday. Garrett allowed four home runs, including a grand slam by Marcell Ozuna during a seven-run second inning. Ozuna also hit a solo shot off Garrett, Ronald Acuna Jr. belted a three-run homer and Michael Harris II had a two-run blast.
Garrett will be facing Arizona for the second time in his career. The first came on April 15 in Miami when he wasn’t involved in the decision during a 3-2 Marlins victory. He allowed one run on four hits over 5 2/3 innings while striking out five and walking one.
Gallen hasn’t lost a game since an 8-2 setback to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Opening Day. He is 2-0 with a 1.38 ERA in two career starts against the Marlins, having blanked them on two hits over 6 2/3 innings in an April 16 start in Miami. The Diamondbacks won 5-0 as Gallen fanned seven without issuing a walk.
Arizona comes in off a tough 9-8 home loss to the Washington Nationals on Sunday, a result that snapped a three-game winning streak.
The Diamondbacks led 7-3 after five innings, but they squandered chances to put the game away in the sixth and seventh when Washington pitchers issued seven of their 11 walks in the contest. Arizona scored just once during those two frames.
“We could have broken the game open,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “We had some overanxious hitters. The quality of at-bats weren’t good enough.”
Still, the Diamondbacks looked in good shape heading into the ninth with an 8-6 lead. However, reliever Miguel Castro gave up three runs on his first four pitches, yielding a double to Luis Garcia, a single to Keibert Ruiz and a three-run homer to Joey Meneses.
“This game teaches you lessons every day,” Lovullo said. “There were so many things that happened before the ninth inning that allowed it to happen. Four pitches (and) they score three runs. You can’t predict that.”
–Field Level Media
