Dickerson homers as Marlins beat Cubs in playoff opener
CHICAGO » 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.
Jesús 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 right-hander Sixto Sánchez 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 had his left hand broken by a fastball in the ninth inning. The team says Marte has a non-displaced fracture of his fifth metacarpal. Miami is optimistic and is still considering him day to day. BRAVES 1, REDS 0 » Freddie Freeman singled home the winning run in the 13th inning, finally ending the longest scoreless duel
in postseason history as Atlanta Braves defeated Cincinnati in the opener of their NL wild-card series.
What began as a pitching showdown between between Cy Young contenders Trevor Bauer of the Reds and Atlanta’s Max Fried devolved into a strikeout contest.
The teams combined for a postseason record 37 Ks — 21 by the Braves. After a couple of hits in the 13th against Archie Bradley, Freeman drove one into center field off Amir Garrett against a five-man infield with one out to end a game that dragged on for more than 4 ½ hours.
A.J. Minter escaped a basesloaded, one-out jam in the top of the 13th for the win — the third straight inning the Reds pushed a runner to third but couldn’t get him another 90 feet.
CARDINALS 7, PADRES 4 » Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run home run during a four-run first inning, St. Louis’ bullpen held strong after starter Kwang Hyun Kim stumbled in his playoff debut and the Cardinals ruined San Diego’s long-awaited return to the playoffs in the opener of their NL wild-card series.
The Cardinals need one more win to eliminate the Padres from
the postseason time since 1996.
Giovanny Gallegos (1-0) pitched
1.1 innings for the win and Alex Reyes got the last four outs for the save. Five relievers combined for
5.1 innings, allowing three hits and an unearned run.
for the fourth
Fans to be allowed at World Series, NLCS
NEWYORK» Fans can take themselves out to the ball game for the first time this season during the NL Championship Series and World Series at new Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas.
Major League Baseball said approximately 11,500 tickets will be available for each game. That is about 28% of the 40,518-capacity, retractable-roof stadium of the Texas Rangers, which opened this year adjacent to old Globe Life Park, the team’s open-air home from 1994 through 2019.
“Any time there’s fans in the stands there’s maybe a heightened sense of, this is a real game and it might raise everybody’s play,” said Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, who lives in the Dallas area during the offseason.