De La Cruz hits homer in the ninth as Marlins beat Cubs in first game of doubleheader
Coming up to the plate with a runner on first, down a run in the ninth inning Saturday, the red-hot Bryan De La Cruz had a premonition.
The Marlins were down, 2-1, to the Cubs and Luis Arraez had just delivered a one-out single against Cubs closer Adbert Alzolay.
De La Cruz spoke with bench coach Luis Urueta.
“When I was over by the bench, our bench coach told me they were removing me from the game for a pinch runner,” De La Cruz said. “I said, ‘What do you mean a pinch runner? I’m going to get a homer here. You’re not going to need to do that.’”
De La Cruz was proven right. He blasted an Alzolay sinker 397 feet to left-center to give the Marlins the lead and extend his hitting streak to eight games. Tanner Scott pitched around a pair of singles for his third save in a 3-2 win in game one of a split doubleheader.
De La Cruz knew it was going to be strength vs. strength against Alzolay, and he came out on top.
“Really his best pitch is the sinker,” De La Cruz said. “I feel like the best pitch I can hit is the sinker, so at that point it’s really 50/50 how it can go. I think in that instance, the way his sinker went, it was a 70/30 advantage for me.”
In a season devoid of many highlights for the Marlins (5-16) so far, the dramatic win was a clear relief. So was the performance of ace Jesus Luzardo.
While he didn’t figure in the decision, he went six innings, his longest outing of the season. He allowed two runs on three hits, walking three and striking out six over 104 pitches.
“The first thing I thought when I woke up was that I have to go deep and save the bullpen, especially with a doubleheader like this,” Luzardo said. “We’ve been wearing out the bullpen a lot. I think it’s time that I took the next step in trying to go deeper into games, and thankfully I was able to do that and hopefully I can continue to do that.”
Luzardo limped into Saturday’s start with a 7.55 ERA in his first four starts, but manager Skip Schumaker had a feeling prior to the game.
“I feel like today is going to be the day we get him back on track,” Schumaker said.
“Couple starts and 40 at-bats isn’t going to dictate how I feel about the guy and count him out just yet. He’s our ace and I’ll continue to say that.”
Schumaker said the root of Luzardo’s early-season struggles was falling behind in counts. By setting up hitters in advantageous counts, Luzardo was unable to get to his elite secondary offerings to neutralize hitters.
“When you throw 98 miles per hour with a good slider and changeup, those things are magnified early in the season,” Schumaker said. “I’d bet on Luzardo. I think he’s one of the elite pitchers in the game and I’m going to continue to say that.”
Luzardo started out strong, striking out Nico Hoerner and Patrick Wisdom to start his outing. He survived a leadoff walk to Dansby Swanson in the second, but he got into trouble in the third.
Alexander Canario and Hoerner delivered back-to-back one-out singles and Wisdom followed with a two-run triple that caromed off the wall in right center.
“There were two broken-bat hits on pitches that were kind of the game plan and then the triple was a slider that just kind of stayed there,” Luzardo said. “Besides that, I think everything worked well. I executed my plan for the most part. Just one mistake ended up with those two runs.”
Luzardo was sharp from there, however. The only baserunner he allowed in the final 10 batters he faced reached via error but was thrown out trying to steal. Still looking strong, Luzardo was determined to get through the sixth after talking with pitching coach Mel Stottlemyre Jr.
“I went up to Mel and was like, ‘I’m good to go,’<TH>” Luzardo said. “Mel was like, ‘All right, well then you better go.’ We have that good relationship to where me and Mel go back and forth on it. He knows I want to go deep. He’s obviously smart with the pitches and all that. On a day like today, I feel like it was important to go out and get that sixth.”
PUK TO IL
Marlins left-hander A.J. Puk, converted from a reliever to a starter this season, was placed on the 15-day injured list on Saturday because of left shoulder fatigue.