Cubs break out the lumber in blowout win over Marlins |
MIAMI - In what has seemed like forever, the Chicago Cubs (65-65) were finally able to climb back to .500 against the Miami Marlins (49-83) at Loan Depot Park on Saturday. It came on the heels of another strong Shota Imanaga start as the left-hander overcame a pair of solo shots to toss seven strong innings. It does help when the Cubs offense backed him 14 runs of support as the Cubs took care of the Marlins 14-2.
What stands out the most about Imanaga in this start is that he was far from his best, yet he still went seven innings and did it under 100 pitches. He walked two and struck out three but minimized the damage by allowing just two solo shots. Facing off against Valente Bellozo, who has been very good in his previous six starts, the Cubs offense took over as Seiya Suzuki was responsible for all of the early offense. Suzuki connected for a first-inning solo shot to put the Cubs in front 1-0 before tacking on a two-run shot in the third as the Cubs opened up a 3-0 lead just three innings in. Seiya sends one out and we're up 1! 👏 pic.twitter.com/3N1buWrY45 Suzuki has been hitting the ball much better lately, so for him to hit two homers in his first two at-bats is simply the averages starting to balance out. *googles déjà vu* pic.twitter.com/QnmQz80Wwi With Suzuki doing his part at the plate, Imanaga returned the favor as he retired the first nine hitters he faced. Then came the bottom of the fourth when the Marlins not only picked up their first hit, but also their first run as Connor Norby took Imanaga deep for the first of two homers allowed by the Cubs lefty and pulled the Marlins within 3-1. Homers continued to be the theme of the game for both teams in the fifth inning as Pete Crow-Armstrong pushed the Cubs lead to 5-1 with his second homer in as many nights. Pete Crow-Armstrong - Chicago Cubs (7) That accounted for two of the Cubs four runs in that inning as Miguel Amaya tacked on a single for one of his three hits immediately following that home while an Ian Happ walk put two runners on and two outs. Michael Busch kept the line moving with an RBI single to push the lead to 6-1, but with the Marlins picking up an error on that same play, another run came in to score, and it was all Cubs at this point 7-1. Miami continued to use the long ball to keep things close in the bottom of the fifth, with David Hensley connecting for the second solo shot in as many innings as the Marlins were within 7-2. That was not only their final run, but as close as things would get as the Cubs offense went to work against the Marlins pen and ended the game with seven unanswered runs, all coming after the seventh inning. Three of those runs came in the seventh as the two-out Busch double brought home another run to make this an 8-2 lead, with Suzuki adding to his already massive game with a triple to put the Cubs in front 9-2. The boys add more runs to the board. ⬇️#Cubs 10-2. pic.twitter.com/xpnKBd2o3U Chicago added a third run in that inning off a Cody Bellinger double as they opened up a 10-2 lead. The Cubs offense continued to go to work in the eight as the suddenly red-hot bottom of the lineup continued to step up. With Mike Tauchman starting the inning with a leadoff single before advancing to second on a Patrick Wisdom walk, the Cubs offense was threatening yet again. Once again, it was the ever-improving PCA coming through as he delivered his second RBI of the game with a double to push the Cubs lead to 11-2. Wisdom would eventually come in to score on a bases-loaded walk to Busch later in the inning as the Cubs opened a 12-2 lead with the bullpen set to take over. Although he hasn't pitched a ton this season, Ethan Roberts continues to pitch well, as he tossed a scoreless eighth inning to lower his ERA to 0.75 for the season. That was followed by another multiple-run inning by the Cubs offense as Wisdom joined in on the fun with a two-run shot off Vidal Brujan in the ninth to extend the Cubs lead to 14-2. Wave that baseball BUH-BYE. pic.twitter.com/v1YLPDEyu2 Jack Neely took over from there as the rookie right-hander tossed his consecutive scoreless inning to close things out after a horrific first appearance last week. The entire lineup was red-hot right from the start, as Isaac Paredes was the lone Cub not to record a hit. Chicago picked up 17 hits in the victory, with Suzuki, Amaya, and Busch all coming away with three. PCA and Tauchman added two hits to give the Cubs five players with multiple hits, with Suzuki leading the way with four RBIs. Chicago will now go for the sweep on Sunday as they will try to get over .500 for the first time since May. Nothing fishy about this dub.😌
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Suzuki: 3 for 5, 2 HR, 3B, BB, 4 RBI, 3 R
Crow-Armstrong: 2 for 4, HR, 2B, BB, 3 RBI, R
Busch: 3 for 5, BB, 2 RBI, 2 R pic.twitter.com/MDdGLlRl7P
