The Chicago Cubs will be on the brink of a playoff berth for the second straight year when they conclude the home portion of their regular-season schedule Thursday afternoon against the Miami Marlins.
A Cubs win, or a loss by Arizona (84-74) at Colorado on Thursday, will enable the Cubs (87-71) to clinch one of three wild-card berths in the National League because they hold the tiebreaker over the Diamondbacks.
San Diego (88-70) and Philadelphia (87-71) currently hold the NL’s other two wild-card spots.
While the Cubs have seen their offense struggle the past two days in losses to Miami (78-80), they don’t believe that will carry over to the series finale.
“The fun part about this year is like what just happened doesn’t matter at this point,” said Chicago shortstop Dansby Swanson, whose single scored both of his team’s runs in Wednesday’s 3-2 loss.
“Just the ability to show up and perform the next day is what’s most important. We’ve shown that all year and done that all year. So (Thursday) will be no different.”
Left-hander Matthew Boyd (9-5, 4.06 ERA) will start the Cubs’ home finale.
Boyd won for the first time since Aug. 9 in his last outing. He allowed two runs (one earned) in five innings to help the Cubs to a 5-2 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday, breaking an 0-4 stretch over his last six starts.
Boyd has faced the Marlins just one other time in his 12-year career. On May 23, 2019, with the Detroit Tigers, he tossed six-plus shutout innings, allowing just five hits and a walk while striking out seven. But he did not get a decision.
Right-hander Tyler Phillips (5-6, 3.45 ERA) will look for his second win against the Cubs this month. He allowed three runs on five hits and a walk over five innings on Sept. 6 as the Marlins prevented a Cubs sweep with a 10-3 win. Phillips, who joined the Marlins’ rotation in June, also pitched a scoreless inning of relief against the Cubs last season.
While the Marlins’ season will end on Sunday, manager Clayton McCullough has used some of his starting pitchers in relief over the past week with closer Pete Fairbanks on the injured list. On Tuesday, Eury Perez struck out the side in a perfect eighth inning, and on Wednesday, staff ace Sandy Alcantara recorded his second save in a week and of his big-league career.
McCullough said the bullpen was spent after eight relievers covered seven innings on Wednesday, and Alcantara told him he would be willing to go if needed.
“You can always trust him to go fill it up, and he got a big double play ball there to seal the win,” McCullough said.
Marlins first baseman Kyle Stowers has feasted on the Cubs. He’s homered in the first two games of this series, and in 13 games against Chicago, he’s hitting .357 with 10 RBIs. His six home runs against the Cubs are the most he has hit against any opponent.
–Field Level Media
