MIAMI — Eerily similar to the night before, Steven Okert took the mound in the eighth inning Wednesday and the Miami Marlins’ demise began.
The left-handed reliever walked the first two batters and then scooped up a bunt from Esteban Quiroz, which would load the bases, but missed the throw to Charles Leblanc, who was covering first base. This allowed Chicago’s Zach McKinstry to score.
Then the runs kept coming.
Dylan Floro relieved Okert after the first score with no outs on the board. The first batter he faced, David Bote, reached first on a fielder’s choice, which allowed Christopher Morel, the second batter Okert walked, to run home. Then a sacrifice fly from Ian Happ scored Quiroz.
For those keeping track, that’s three runs in the top of the eighth — one earned — without a hit. After trailing the whole game, the Cubs took the lead for good to beat the Marlins, 4-3, on Wednesday at loanDepot park. The Marlins (61-89) tied the franchise record of 37 one-run losses in a season set in 1993.
“That’s just a frustrating inning from the standpoint of you feel like you’ve got the right guys in there,” Miami manager Don Mattingly said, later adding that Okert has been one of the more consistent bullpen performers this season. “Obviously not the right guys tonight.”
On Tuesday, the Cubs loaded the bases in the eighth inning against Okert on a hit by pitch and a pair of bunts before Bote hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly as Chicago won, 2-1.
The late-inning collapse on Wednesday, like the night before, also foiled a stellar performance from the Marlins’ starting pitcher.
Jesus Luzardo pitched 6 2/3 innings, the deepest he’s gone in a home game this season, and struck out 11 batters while allowing just one run — a solo home run to the Cubs’ Patrick Wisdom on his 101st and final pitch.
This game marked the third double-digit strikeout game of Luzardo’s career and second this year. The first this season, in which he struck out a personal best of 12, came April 12 against the Angels in his first start of the season.
Of the 101 pitches Luzardo threw Wednesday (the third time in his career he’s gone over 100 pitches), 69 were strikes.
“Today was the best I’ve ever seen his fastball command,” catcher Nick Fortes said about his view of Luzardo from behind the plate. “…He was literally just hitting my glove. Wherever I put it he was hitting it. So, I mean if he can do that, obviously it’s really hard to do consistently, but, man, if he can do that consistently, he’s tough to beat.”
Since returning from a two-and-a-half-month shift on the injured list due to a left forearm strain, Luzardo has a 3.34 ERA with 61 strikeouts and 16 walks across 10 starts. He has pitched at least six innings while giving up no more than two runs in six of those 10.
Luzardo’s two starts against the Cubs this season combined for 13 2/3 innings pitched, four hits, one run and 17 strikeouts. He tossed seven shutout innings in his first start against Chicago Aug. 7.
The Marlins jumped to an early 3-0 lead on a pair of home runs from Fortes and first baseman Lewin Díaz in the fifth inning before the Cubs (63-86) started their rally.
The Marlins are off Thursday before starting a three-game series against the Washington Nationals on Friday to wrap up the six-game homestand.
