Sanchez starts, finishes strong as Marlins complete comeback vs. Cubs

Jesús Tinoco had an uncharacteristically bad night.

Jesús Sánchez bailed him out with a big hit.

After the Marlins’ usually reliable reliever surrendered four runs in just one-third of an inning in the sixth inning to lose a three-run lead, Sánchez ripped a triple down the first-base line with two outs in the ninth for a dramatic 8-7 win against the Chicago Cubs on Monday night at loanDepot park.

“It was a lot of fun,” Marlins’ manager Clayton McCullough said. “Over the course of the season, we’ve been in a lot of those situations, so you hope that each time prepares you for the next one. Our guys have shown all year long that they’re incredibly resilient.”

Sánchez’s fourth career walk-off hit — he most recently had one May 6 against the Dodgers — was the Marlins’ sixth this season, tying the San Francisco Giants for most in the majors this season.

His winning swing off reliever Daniel Palencia scored Derek Hill, who started the rally with a ground-rule double, and Javier Sanoja, who followed with a walk.

“It would have been easy to fold it up, but our group has shown that isn’t in their character,” McCullough said. “Games like this, you look back through and see there were contributions up and down. Really a cool way for it to finish.”

The Marlins’ third win in four games to start this homestand looked unlikely after the sixth inning.

Coming into the game, McCullough was bullish about his bullpen, and he had every reason to be.

Marlins relievers hadn’t allowed a run in four consecutive games and six of the past eight. And in three days versus the Rays, seven guys — Ronny Henriquez, Jesús Tinoco, Calvin Faucher, Anthony Bender, Cade Gibson, Lake Bachar, Tyler Phillips — combined for more strikeouts (nine) than hits allowed (eight) over 12 innings.

Oh, and zero walks.

So when Tinoco began the sixth by walking Michael Busch while protecting a three-run lead, it was a troubling sign.

Sure enough, the Cubs roughed up Tinoco. Henriquez was able to get the final two outs in the sixth without further damage and former starter Valente Bellozo pitched three scoreless innings in relief for the win, an effort McCullough described as heroic.

“It just didn’t work out for Jesús tonight. It by no means changes how I feel about him, his importance to us and how he’ll be counted on moving forward,” McCullough said. “Those guys down in the ‘pen, that’s a tough job. Very thankless when they do well. And then, they are human. You have an outing where you give up some runs and fire alarms can go off.”

Marlins’ starter Edward Cabrera had a solid outing, allowing three runs and five hits in five innings, with seven strikeouts and one walk.

“All my pitches were working for me, thank God,” Cabrera said. “Everything felt well. I was through exactly where I wanted it.”

All three runs came on Miguel Amaya’s homer with two outs in the fourth.

Left fielder Kyle Stowers nearly made a stellar leaping catch with his arm stretched high above the fence, but the ball bounced off his glove into the Marlins’ bullpen.

“We all saw he gave all he got,” Cabrera said.

The Marlins surged ahead 6-3 an inning later with four runs on five hits — a leadoff double from Connor Norby, an RBI triple from Liam Hicks, and RBI singles from Sanoja, Sánchez and Otto Lopez.

They seized their first lead Monday on back-to-back blasts off Cubs right-hander Ben Brown in their first turn at-bat.

Sánchez clubbed the first leadoff home run of his career — a 409-foot shot to center field at 112.1 mph, his hardest-hit ball of the season. Moments later, rookie Agustín Ramirez followed with his sixth long ball — a 410- to left-center that left his bat at 110 mph. Both homers came off four-seam fastballs.

▪ Hicks’ strikeout in the second inning was his first since April 18, ending his streak of 40 consecutive at-bats (44 plate appearances) without a strikeout.

“What’s most cool about that — that stat is crazy — but also, it’s the impact he’s showing,” McCullough said pregame of Hicks, who entered play leading National League rookies in RBI (20). “It’s not that he’s sacrificing not wanting to strike out for just putting the play in play. He’s getting off some really aggressive swings.”

Hicks raised his batting average from .179 to .282 over a 12-game stretch the past month.

▪ Second baseman Otto Lopez might start at shortstop on Tuesday, McCullough said. Javier Sanoja has started all four games there since Xavier Edwards’ injury, but both he and Lopez took grounders at the position before Monday’s game.

“Otto has excelled at second base — he’s been one of the best defenders at that position — and Sanoja has played very well at short,” McCullough said. Still, “we would like to give Otto some opportunity at short to see what that looks like.”

▪ Right-hander Eury Pérez (Tommy John surgery) will make his next rehab start Thursday for Triple A Jacksonville, aiming for up to five innings and 60-plus pitches, McCullough said. “He looked great [Monday] — it was a crisp side session,” he said. “He seems to be in a really good spot. You can tell his excitement level is building as he knows he’s getting closer.”

▪ Right-hander Declan Cronin (hip) will begin a rehab assignment Tuesday with Single-A Jupiter.