MOTIVATED MARLINS SWEEP CUBS
Marlins 2, Cubs 0
The Miami Marlins didn’t need a hand from a fan at Wrigley Field to knock the Chicago Cubs out of the playoffs this time. They did just fine on their own, and they showed they’re hardly bottom feeders.
Garrett Cooper homered against Yu Darvish in a tworun seventh, hard-throwing rookie Sixto Sanchez dominated for five innings and the Miami Marlins won their first playoff series in 17 years, beating the Cubs 2-0 Friday to complete a two-game Wild Card Series sweep.
Miami will face Atlanta in the NL Division Series in Houston starting Tuesday.
Led by manager Don Mattingly and CEO Derek Jeter, the Marlins remained unbeaten in all seven postseason series they have played following triumphs in the 1997 and 2003 World Series. And this time, in empty Wrigley Field, they didn’t need an assist from the crowd. In Game 6 of the 2003 NLCS, fan Steve Bartman def lected Luis Castillo’s foul ball as Cubs left fielder Moises Alou tried to make a leaping catch, which led to an eight-run, eighth-inning rally.
“The one thing that we talked about us all year was why not us?” Mattingly said. “With this kind of pitching, you can do anything. You feel like you’ve got a good shot at kind of stopping almost anybody if you make pitches.”
Miami lost 105 games in 2019 and became the first team to reach the playoffs after a 100-loss season. The Marlins finished second in the NL East at 31-29 after being beset by a virus outbreak early this season that forced 18 players from the field following the opening series and prevented them from playing for over a week.
The Marlins had T-shirts with “Bottom Feeders” in their dugout Friday, a reference to a remark by Ricky Bottalico, a former Phillies pitcher and current NBC Sports Philadelphia analyst, after the Marlins’ openingday win in Philadelphia.
“I want to thank Ricky Bottalico for that motivation,” closer Brandon Kintzler said.
Chicago, the NL Central champion, went 3-for-27 (.111) with runners on base in the series. Javier Baez, Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo combined to go 0-for-12 Friday and finished the series 1for-24. The trio is 19-for-142 (.134) with 52 strikeouts and six walks in the postseason
since the 2016 World Series title as Chicago has lost nine of 13.
Chicago missed the playoffs last year for the first time since 2014, then scored one run in its return. The Cubs haven’t advanced since the 2017 team lost in the NLCS.
“Just numb,” Rizzo said, Cooper gave the Marlins a 1-0 lead with two out in the seventh with a drive into the seats beyond the left-field wall. Matt Joyce doubled off the glove of diving center fielder Ian Happ, and Miguel Rojas chased Darvish with an RBI single.
“That’s probably the best feeling I’ve had in my baseball career, the biggest home run that I’ve had in my baseball career,” Cooper said. “It’s just something that you can’t explain.”
Sanchez overpowered the Cubs, striking out six
and giving up four hits.
Kintzler, a former Cub, gave up a leadoff double to Jason Heyward in the ninth. But he struck out the next three batters, pumping his right arm after he got pinch hitter Jason Kipnis swinging on a 2-2 pitch to end the game.
Dodgers 3, Brewers 0: Clayton Kershaw struck out 13 while delivering eight innings of three-hit ball, Mookie Betts snapped a scoreless tie with a two-out, two-run double in the fifth, and Los Angeles beat Milwaukee to sweep its NL wildcard series on Thursday night.
Kershaw’s strikeouts were a playoff career high and the most by a Dodgers pitcher in the postseason since his mentor Sandy Koufax had 15 in Game 1 of the 1963 World Series against the Yankees.