Marlins squeak past Cubs 7-6 to clinch series win 

After jumping out to a comfortable lead early, the Marlins did just enough to hang on.

The Miami Marlins continue to squeak out victories as they defeated the Chicago Cubs 7-6 Saturday night. The Marlins improved to 15-13 on the season and remain perfect in one-run ballgames with a 9-0 record.

The Marlins offense was all over the Cubs pitching staff. The Fish scored seven runs on twelve hits. Most of that damage was done against newly called-up right-hander Caleb Kilian.

Leadoff hitter Jazz Chisholm Jr. had a huge game at the plate. He went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. It’s also Jazz’s first three-hit game this season. Second baseman Luis Arraez continues to hit as he went 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored.

Right-handed pitcher Edward Cabrera got the start and win for the Marlins. Cabrera struggled with command early on, but put ultimately together a career outing. The 25-year-old flamethrower pitched five innings allowing three hits, two runs, five walks, and a career-high twelve strikeouts. He K’d eight of the last 10 batters he faced. Cabrera’s twelve strikeouts are the most by a Marlins pitcher this season.

After an awesome outing by Cabrera, the Marlins handed the ball to left-handed relief pitcher Andrew Nardi. He immediately got into trouble as Cody Bellinger hit a towering home run to lead off the inning. Trey Mancini, Eric Hosmer, and Patrick Wisdom would all single to load the bases with no outs.

Marlins quickly went back to their bullpen again and brought in right-hander Huascar Brazoban. The Dominican reliever would minimize the damage after striking out Edwin Rios and getting a double play on a sacrifice fly to left by Nico Hoerner. Brazoban pitched well in his relief appearance. He threw two innings allowing no hits, no runs, no walks, and two strikeouts.

Heading into the eighth, the Marlins went with left-hander Steven Okert. Okert struggled with command as he walked the first two batters he faced. He’d get Nelson Velasquez on a fielder’s choice, but walked Wisdom to load the bases with only one out. Skip Schumaker pulled Okert and had Matt Barnes come in relief.

Barnes battled against the top of Chicago’s lineup. He allowed two of the inherited runners to score but left the tying run on third as Barnes got Dansby Swanson to foul out to Gurriel at first.

Heading into the ninth, with A.J. Puk and Dylan Floro needing a rest, the Marlins went to left-hander Tanner Scott to try to close the game. Scott got Ian Happ to ground out, but the Cubs got the tying run on the base with a one-out single by Seiya Suzuki. Scott settled down and struck out the next two batters to earn his second save this season.

Outfielder Jesus Sanchez was seeing the ball well in Saturday’s win. The left-handed-hitting right fielder went 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs, taking advantage of finally getting consistent playing time. First baseman Yuli Gurriel also went 2-for-3 with a hit by pitch.

This was the first game all season that Miami has won when allowing five or more runs. The club has won five of the last six series (the only exception being against Atlanta).

What’s next?

The Miami Marlins will look to complete the series sweep against the Cubs on Sunday. Right-handed pitcher Bryan Hoeing will get the start for the Fish. In his first start of the season, Hoeing threw 3 ²⁄₃ innings allowing six hits, four runs, and two walks.

The Cubs will look to avoid the sweep with left-handed pitcher Justin Steele on the bump. Steele has been outstanding early in the season with a 4-0 record and a 1.19 ERA through five starts.

The first pitch of the series finale will be on Sunday at 12:05 pm EST televised exclusively on Peacock.