The Chicago Cubs will try to keep their hold on the top wild-card spot in the National League on Saturday afternoon when they visit the Miami Marlins for the second contest of a three-game series.
The Cubs (80-62) supplanted Philadelphia for the top wild-card position with a 6-1 win over the Marlins on Friday night and the Phillies’ 5-2 loss to the Atlanta Braves.
A big part of Chicago’s success this season has come from the team’s potent lineup, which leads the major leagues in runs (759), home runs (199) and RBIs (716). The Cubs also top the majors with 598 walks, and they leveraged four free passes into scoring three times in the sixth inning to take a 4-0 lead over the Marlins on Friday.
“We can do a lot of things offensively to score,” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said. “Patience is one of them. We showed it tonight.”
Javier Assad (6-1, 3.46 ERA) is expected to be recalled from Triple-A Iowa to start on Saturday. The right-hander has spent the season shuttling between the Cubs and Iowa and moving from the rotation to the bullpen.
Saturday will mark the third time Assad has started against the Marlins. His other two appearances happened in 2024. He’s 0-1 with a 3.09 ERA in 11 2/3 innings in those outings.
Alex Bregman is hitting .400 (14-for-35) with five homers and 12 RBIs during an eight-game hitting streak.
While Chicago leads the wild-card standings, the Marlins (71-71) have been treading water. They are 3 1/2 games behind the San Diego Padres for the NL’s final playoff spot.
Miami will start Ryan Gusto (1-3, 3.86 ERA) on Saturday. The right-hander will make his first start against the Cubs, but he threw four innings of relief against them as a member of the Houston Astros last season. He allowed four runs on seven hits in the Cubs’ 12-3 win.
Miami’s Javier Sanoja, 24, has seen the ball well over the last 10 games. He’s hit safely in nine of those contests with a .385 average (15-for-39).
Youngsters also are prone to make mistakes. That happened Friday, allowing the Cubs to score their first run in the second inning.
With runners on the corners and one out, Pedro Ramirez hit a grounder to first baseman Deyvison De Los Santos. Rather than throwing home to get Ian Happ, the rookie, playing in his sixth big-league game, tried for an inning-ending double play.
Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said developing young players is important, but there’s a learning curve.
“As a group, we just got to continue to be a little more buttoned up and improve in some of those areas,” he said. “Because you see the difference when you’re playing a lot of tightly contested games.”
De Los Santos was playing in place of Kyle Stowers, who sat out Friday after leaving Thursday’s game with a cramp in his left hamstring, the same ailment that put him on the injured list last month. Stowers told reporters Friday it’s a “day-to-day” issue.
–Field Level Media
