Miami Marlins rally to beat Chicago Cubs and extend win streak to three games
For the majority of his Major League Baseball career, Magneuris Sierra has been relegated to a bench role, the fourth outfielder who comes in as a pinch-hitter or defensive replacement and gets the occasional spot start. He doesn’t always have the luxury of consistent at-bats, the ability to regularly work on his swing in live games.
“Coming off the bench,” Sierra said, “is not an easy thing.”
Brian Anderson, meanwhile, has been an everyday starter for four years, but a pair of injuries in 2021 have caused him to go through growing pains this season that he had not dealt with in his first three full seasons. Anderson has gone through two separate injured list stints, the latest one a right shoulder subluxation that sidelined him for two months. When he returned in July 24, he found himself trying to do too much too often, resulting in missed opportunities at the plate.
“It’s easy to fall into the trap of realizing you missed 60, 70 games that you try to make up for lost time,” Anderson said.
Sierra and Anderson made their marks on Saturday.
Anderson drove in four runs, including a three-run home run, and Sierra hit a go-ahead RBI single to back up a strong start from Zach Thompson and complete the Miami Marlins’ 5-4, come-from-behind win over the Chicago Cubs at loanDepot park.
It’s the Marlins’ third consecutive win and improves them to 50-67 on the season, a mark that has them tied for fourth place in the NL East with the Washington Nationals.
Sierra’s groundball single to right field capped a two-run rally in the eighth that was needed after the Marlins’ bullpen gave up the lead in the top half of the inning.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the inning with a double and a pair of fielding errors from Cubs shortstop Sergio Alcantara allowed both Lewis Brinson and Anderson to reach base while simultaneously allowing Chisholm to get to third and ultimately score the game-tying run. Sierra, who entered the game as a defensive replacement, then sent a 1-2 changeup from Cody Heuer through the right side to score Brinson from second base.
Sierra has started just 35 of the 94 games in which he has appeared this season and has averaged about two plate appearances per game as a result. He received a steady dose of starts from late April through May when Starling Marte was on the injured list with a fractured rib and has been getting consistent starts again over the past two weeks after the Marlins traded Marte to the Oakland Athletics and Adam Duvall to the Atlanta Braves.
Sierra has hits in five of his last six games and has produced three of his four RBI on the season in this stretch, including Saturday’s go-ahead RBI single.
“Things like that have allowed me to main good energy,” Sierra said. “It’s been a long season. I haven’t had as many chances, but it’s something that you cannot let yourself get down. You have to keep yourself up and keep playing the game.”
Anderson has been embracing a similar mindset as he finds his rhythm at the plate again. The third baseman has more strikeouts (21) than hits (17) since his latest return from the injured list and his emotions are noticeable when he’s not producing.
But one swing in the sixth inning served as a potential sigh of relief.
With the Marlins down 1-0 and a pair of runners on base, Anderson sent a high-and-inside changeup a projected 403 feet and into the left-field seats above Miami’s bullpen.
It was Anderson’s sixth home run of the year and snapped a 13-game stretch without a long ball.
“Just trying to get my feet wet and get back in the flow of the game,” Anderson said. “Being around all the guys has helped a lot. I struggled a little bit coming back this last month or so, but the guys have been picking me up the whole time and they’ve been keeping me going.”
Anderson’s home run also picked up Thompson, the 27-year-old righty who earned the win after holding the Cubs to one run on four hits over a career--high-tying six innings pitched.
Thompson faced the minimum through three innings, with a double play in the second erasing the lone baserunner he allowed (Ian Happ on a single) the first time through Chicago’s lineup.
The lone blemish in Thompson’s start was a Patrick Wisdom RBI single to right that scored Rafael Ortega in the fourth for the game’s first run.
Anderson’s home run ensured Thompson would leave the game with a win. As the hard-hit fly ball carried toward left field, the normally stoic Thompson jumped up and down from the dugout before throwing his water bottle in the air.
“That doesn’t really happen often,” Thompson said. “I just felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders.”
A rough top of the eighth inning almost put a damper on things. Richard Bleier gave up a single before recording two outs and then Dylan Floro loaded the bases before giving up a bases-clearing double to Frank Schwindel that gave the Cubs a momentarily lead again.
But one more rally and a perfect ninth inning from rookie reliever Anthony Bender sealed the win.
This story was originally published August 14, 2021 at 9:14 PM.
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