Jesus Sanchez homered and delivered a walk-off two-run double to give the Miami Marlins an 8-7 win over the visiting Chicago Cubs in the opener of a three-game series on Monday.
Sanchez had three hits and four RBIs for Miami, which was down to its final out before Derek Hill hit a ground-rule double against Daniel Palencia (0-1). After Javier Sanoja drew a four-pitch walk, Sanchez followed with a two-run double to right field.
Valente Bellozo (1-2) pitched three scoreless innings of relief for Miami, which won its fourth game of the past five.
Miguel Amaya hit a three-run homer and added a two-run double for Chicago, which had its three-game win streak snapped.
The Cubs moved ahead 7-6 when Matt Shaw capped a four-run sixth inning with a go-ahead RBI double. Shaw also singled in his first game since being recalled from Triple-A Iowa.
Miami took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first against Ben Brown, who allowed back-to-back homers to Sanchez and Agustin Ramirez to begin the inning.
Chicago moved ahead in the fourth inning on Amaya’s three-run homer against Edward Cabrera. The 363-foot shot was Amaya’s fourth homer this season.
The Marlins regained the lead at 6-3 with four runs in the fifth inning. Connor Norby began the rally with a leadoff double and scored on Liam Hicks’ first career triple.
Sanoja singled in a run with one out, stole second base and scored on Sanchez’s single. With two outs, Sanchez stole second and raced home on Otto Lopez’s single to left field.
Brown allowed six runs on seven hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out eight with no walks.
Cabrera was replaced by Jesus Tinoco to begin the sixth inning after giving up three runs on five hits with one walk and seven strikeouts.
The Cubs took the lead by sending nine batters to the plate in the sixth and scoring four runs on five hits.
The Cubs greeted Tinoco by loading the bases and pushing a run across on Moises Ballesteros’ single. Amaya followed with a two-run double and moved to third on the play, while Ballesteros was called out attempting to score after Miami challenged a safe call at home.
Ronny Henriquez replaced Tinoco and faced the rookie Shaw, who put the Cubs ahead with a ground-rule double to right field.
–Field Level Media
