Miami gets off on right foot
Dickerson’s home run in seventh spurs the Marlins to Game 1 win
The Miami Marlins just kept fighting. When Kyle Hendricks finally stumbled, they pounced.
This group of Marlins is one resilient bunch of fish.
Corey Dickerson hit a threerun homer off a fading Hendricks in the seventh inning, and Miami beat the Chicago Cubs 5-1 on Wednesday in Game 1 of their NL Wild Card Series.
Jesus Aguilar also homered and Sandy Alcantara pitched three-hit ball into the seventh as Miami conjured up memories of past playoff magic in the franchise’s first postseason game since it won the World Series in 2003. The Marlins, who rallied past the Cubs in a memorable NLCS that year, have never lost a playoff series.
This year’s Marlins weren’t
supposed to make the playoffs, not after losing 105 games in 2019 and dealing with a coronavirus outbreak early this season. Dickerson said all the adversity helped turn them into a better team.
“We don’t care about who’s the hero,” he said. “We want to pass the bat to the next guy. … We don’t care. We want to cheer for one another, play for one another. That’s what makes this game fun.”
Game 2 of the best-of-three series is Thursday. Yu Darvish starts for the Central champion Cubs, and rookie righthander Sixto Sanchez get the ball for upstart Miami.
“We’ve got to come in tomorrow and find a way. That’s it,” Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo said.
The Marlins could be without center fielder Starling Marte after he was hit on the left hand by a fastball in the ninth inning. The team said he had a left hand contusion and was going for X-rays.
Marte got the start after he was hit on the front of his helmet by a fastball during Sunday ’s regular-season finale against the Yankees.
“He’s been like a target almost,” manager Don Mattingly said. “But he’s been bouncing back from everything else so hopefully we get good results with everything and we’ll see where he’s at.”
Miami was 0-for-9 with runners in scoring position before Dickerson drove Hendricks’ 106th pitch just over the wall in left-center for his first career playoff homer, erasing the Cubs’ 1-0 lead on a cool, blustery afternoon.