It’s the continuation of a weekend set on the diamond on the north side of the Windy City. The Miami Marlins are on the road as they play the middle game of a three-game series with the Chicago Cubs Saturday afternoon. Miami avoided a sweep at home at the hands of the Reds as they prevailed 3-0 in the finale of the series Wednesday night. Chicago played a day-night doubleheader with the Cardinals on the road to close out a three-game set as Wednesday’s game was washed out by rain. They were dropped 4-3 in the opening game of the doubleheader Thursday afternoon and 7-2 in the opening game of the series Friday afternoon.
Miami bounced back from losing the first two games of their series at home against the Reds as they earned the shutout victory Wednesday night in the finale. The Marlins entered Friday fourth in the NL East, 18.5 games behind the Mets for the division lead. They were 8.5 games behind the Phillies for the final wild card spot in the National League. On Wednesday, Miami got three hits from Luke Williams (run) and two from JJ Bleday to lead the way offensively. Jesus Aguilar hit his 13th homer of the season for the Marlins in the victory. Sandy Alcantara (10-4) earned the win as he threw his third complete game of the season, allowing no runs on six hits with one walk and three strikeouts.
Pablo Lopez is on the mound as he makes his 22nd start of the season for the Marlins in this contest. He comes in 7-6 with a 3.41 ERA, a 1.121 WHIP, 35 walks and 119 strikeouts over 118.2 inning s of action this season. Lopez took the loss in his last start, which came at home against the Mets Sunday afternoon. He threw 2.2 innings, allowing six runs on 12 hits with no walks and one strikeout in a 9-3 Marlins defeat. In his last three starts, Lopez is 1-2 with a 7.36 ERA, a 1.50 WHIP, three walks and 18 strikeouts over 14.2 innings of action. Lopez makes his third career start against the Cubs in this contest. He comes in 1-1 with a 1.50 ERA, a 0.583 WHIP, one walk and 13 strikeouts over 12 innings of work. Lopez won his lone start at Wrigley Field, which came on June 19, 2021. He threw seven scoreless innings, allowing one hit with no walks and seven strikeouts in an 11-1 Marlins victory.