Miami Marlins tie franchise record with 11-run inning in win over Chicago Cubs
Bryan De La Cruz had a 3-1 count and the bases loaded in the second inning on Friday when Adbert Alzolay threw him a cutter right over the heart of the plate. The Miami Marlins’ rookie outfielder just missed on the pitch and sent the ball hurling foul down the left-field line.
An opportunity missed.
Alzolay’s next offering: an 86.5 mph slider to almost the exact same location as the cutter.
De La Cruz didn’t missed this one.
“Middle-middle,” De La Cruz said. “I have velocity with my hands. I knew I hit that home run.”
De La Cruz’s grand slam, his second home run in as many games, started a history-tying inning in a history-making game for the Marlins.
Miami tied a franchise record by scoring 11 runs in the second inning of their 14-10 win against the Chicago Cubs on Friday to start a six-game homestand at loanDepot park. It was a game that lasted 4 hours and 14 minutes, the longest nine-inning game in Marlins franchise history.
The 11 runs in the second inning matched the Marlins’ franchise mark set in the fifth inning of their June 4, 2019, win at the Milwaukee Brewers.
“A lot to unfold here with everything that happened,” said Marlins manager Don Mattingly, who made his return to the dugout Friday after missing 12 games because of a positive COVID-19 test.
So, let’s unfold it.
The Marlins (49-67) sent 15 batters to the plate and recorded eight hits, two walks and two hit by pitches while facing three Cubs pitchers.
De La Cruz’s grand slam started the scored. A three-run home run by catcher Alex Jackson, who like De La Cruz was acquired at MLB’s trade deadline, capped Miami’s offensive outburst.
De La Cruz recorded two hits in the inning, becoming the second Marlins player to accomplish the feat this season (Miguel Rojas had two hits in the eighth inning on May 4 against the Arizona Diamondbacks). Overall, the rookie went 3 for 5 on Friday. He is batting .300 over 14 games and has at least one hit in nine of his last 11 starts.
“De La Cruz, his at-bats are impressive,” Mattingly said.
Miami loaded the bases on singles from Brian Anderson and Jorge Alfaro as well as a walk by Alex Jackson to set up De La Cruz’s grand slam. De La Cruz, who hit his first career MLB home run one game earlier against the San Diego Padres on Wednesday, sent Alzolay’s full-count slider a projected 407 feet to left field.
It was the Marlins’ fourth grand slam this season and the first by a Marlins rookie since Lewis Brinson on May 20, 2018.
Pitcher Jesus Luzardo hit a groundball to second baseman David Bote for the first out of the inning before Rojas hit a two-strike single to left. Alzolay was removed from the game in the middle of Isan Diaz’s ensuing at-bat with an injury. Diaz hit a line drive to right against reliever Dan Winkler and Jesus Aguilar walked to load the bases.
Brinson then continued his hot streak from the last three weeks with a double to left that drove in two runs. Back-to-back hit-by-pitches to Anderson and Alfaro loaded the bases and drove in another run.
A passed ball brought Brinson home before Jackson capped scoring in the inning with a three-run home run to right center. Jackson’s home run, his third of the season, went a projected 411 feet and had an exit velocity of 108.8 mph.
After De La Cruz recorded his second hit of the inning, a single to left, the Cubs turned to Rex Brothers out of the bullpen, who recorded the final two outs via a Luzardo strikeout and a Rojas fielder’s choice.
Aguilar also drove in three runs with an RBI groundout in the first and a two-run home run in the third.
Miami’s 14 runs on Friday matched a season high. The 11 runs in the second inning alone were more than the Marlins scored in all but six games this season.
Breaking down Luzardo’s start
Luzardo, a Parkland Stoneman Douglas High alumnus acquired from the Oakland Athletics on July 28, gave up five runs on six hits and four walks while striking out six over five innings on Friday. He threw 106 pitches, 60 of which went for strikes.
He put the Marlins in an early hole after giving up four runs in the first two innings on a David Bote two-run home run in the first, a Johneshwy Fargas RBI triple in the second and Sergio Alcantara sacrifice fly in the second. He got out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in the second following Alcantara’s sacrifice fly by striking out Patrick Wisdom.
Luzardo gave up just one hit over the next two innings before giving up a solo home run to Robinson Chirinos in the fifth.
In three starts since being traded to Miami, Luzardo has given up 15 runs in 14 2/3 innings — a 9.20 ERA — on 17 hits and 11 walks while striking out 13.
Shawn Morimando (2 2/3 innings), David Hess (1/3 inning) and Anthony Bender (1 inning) threw the final four innings of the game out of the bullpen.
Recognizing Eddy Alvarez
The Marlins honored infielder prospect and Miami native Eddy Alvarez during the third inning on Friday after he helped Team USA baseball win a silver medal at the Tokyo Olympics.
In the process, Alvarez became just the sixth athlete ever to earn a medal at both the Summer and Winter Olympics. He also has a silver medal in short-track speed skating from the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Injury updates
▪ Right-handed pitcher Elieser Hernandez is with the club in Miami and threw a bullpen session on Friday. Hernandez, on the 60-day injured list with a right quad strain, made three minor-league starts over the past two weeks, building up to five innings in his most recent start on Tuesday with Triple A Jacksonville.
▪ Right-handed pitcher Pablo Lopez, sidelined with a right rotator cuff strain, threw a 35-pitch bullpen session on Friday.
▪ Jon Berti, dealing with a concussion, is continuing to progress with baseball activities.
▪ Jazz Chisholm Jr. was activated from the injured list. Joe Panik was placed on the injured list.
This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 8:57 PM.
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