Marlins outlast the Cubs in 14 innings |
CHICAGO - Anytime you go up against the defending CY Young winner, you know you are going to put to the test. That is precisely what the Chicago Cubs (17-17) were facing Sunday at Wrigley Field as they took on the Miami Marlins (17-18) and their ace Sergio Alcantara. Alcantara has been one of the rising stars in this league for quite some time, and he finally put that to good use last year by securing the 2022 NL Cy Young award.
This season hasn't gone as smoothly as he would have liked thus far, but he has improved since the beginning of the year. The same can be said about Hayden Wesneski, whose early-season struggles seem well behind him. Wesneski was about as good as he could be in this one, giving the Cubs six solid innings of one-run ball. He didn't walk a batter and struck out six, which is what they expect to get from him every time out. Hayden Wesneski has allowed three runs or fewer in five-straight starts. The problem was that the hard-throwing Alcantara was dominant and looked like a Cy Young winner on the mound. He didn't walk a batter and struck out nine while carrying a shutout into the ninth. Already with over 100 pitches, Skip Schumaker stuck with the right-hander and was going to ride him until the end. Fortunately, the Cubs finally got to him in that ninth inning and pushed across a pair of runs to tie things up 2-2 and force extras. In the extra frame, or should I say frames, both teams had numerous chances and were capitalizing on those chances. However, the Marlins won the game in an unconventional way as Adbert Alzolay walked in the go-ahead and game-winning run in the 14th to give the Marlins a 5-4 win to clinch the season series. As good as Wesneski was, he did a little bit to settle in, allowing first-inning singles to Jazz Chisholm and Luis Arraez before a double play ended any threat of a run-scoring. That started a string of 11 consecutive hitters retired by the right-hander as he was dialed in on the mound. Speaking of dialed-in, Alcantara was out to prove a point on Sunday by retiring the first six hitters he faced. Then came the third when Matt Mervis led things off with a single, followed by the Nick Madrigal single to put a pair on with no outs. Miguel Amaya moved the runners up 90 feet with a sacrifice bunt, but the Cubs failed to cash in on that chance which proved costly in the end. With the score still tied 0-0 entering the fifth, Yuli Gurriel ended that as he led the fifth inning off with a homer. Given how well Alcantara was pitching, one run was looking to be enough as the Cubs couldn't solve him on the mound. That homer was followed by singles from Bryan De La Cruz and Jean Segura before, once again, Wesneski was able to wiggly out of trouble to keep things close. The Cubs continued to keep the pressure on in the fifth, with Mervis and Amaya picking up singles, but with Mervis getting thrown out trying to advance to third, the Cub's threat of a big inning came to an end. Wesneski finished his outing with a scoreless sixth before David Ross turned to Michael Fulmer and the pen. Fulmer tossed a perfect seventh before turning things over to Brad Boxberger, who immediately ran into trouble. Jon Berti picked up a one-out single in the eighth before stealing a second later in the frame. That proved costly as Jorge Soler delivered an RBI single up the middle as Berti came into the score and doubled the lead to 2-0. Down to their final three outs, Alcantara was looking to finish things off, but the Cubs were having none of it. Ian Happ got things started with a one-out single and then raced around the bases on a Cody Bellinger double to make things 2-1. CUBS! pic.twitter.com/qjwM7crLfk Eric Hosmer continued the comeback bid with an RBI single shortly after to tie things up 2-2 before a pair of strikeouts ended the inning but sent the game into extras. Looking to retake the lead in the 10th, Mark Leiter Jr gave up a Joey Wendle RBI triple to put Miami in front 3-2. Leiter could've folded there, but he buckled down to retire the Marlins before any further damage could have been done. In a position to even things up or at least tie the game, Amaya took one for the team, and the winning run was on base. That set the stage for Hoerner to drive one up the middle, and things were back to even 3-3. Nico knocks! Tie ballgame in the 10th!@nico_hoerner pic.twitter.com/exJ9cX5pUk Over the next two frames, neither team was able to generate another run as the game remained 3-3 into the 13th. Berti moved a man up 90 feet with a sacrifice bunt, allowing Chisholm to push home the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly. The top of the Cubs order continued to do the damage in the bottom half of the 13th, with Ian Happ picking up the RBI single and making things 4-4. These boys don't quit!@ihapp_1 pic.twitter.com/wqj0wCVEfE Now on to pitch the 14th was Alzolay, who was greeted by an Arraez groundout to move Hampson to third. This was when things took a turn for the worse as Alzolay was called for a balk, allowing Hampson to score for the 5-4 Marlins lead. Jesus Sanchez followed that up with a double before retiring the next two hitters to get out of the inning. Hoping to keep the back-and-forth affair going in the 14th, Andrew Nardi was called on to pitch the 14th, and it was the Cubs who went down in order as the Marlins finished them off in 14 innings 5-4. The Cubs finished the day with 11 hits, including multi-hit games from Happ, Bellinger, Mervis, and Madrigal. The Cubs will continue their homestand when they welcome the St. Louis Cardinals to town on Monday.
NASTY 🗣️ pic.twitter.com/BZEnSSiq9r
