Marlins blank Cubs 6-0, earn series split

The pesky Marlins might not have the same talent that the mighty Chicago Cubs have, but that doesn’t mean the Marlins were going to let the Cubs come in and dominate them. The Marlins split the opening weekend series with the Cubs, thanks to a strong outing from Dillon Peters in a 6-0 victory on Sunday afternoon at Marlins Park.

The game was locked at 0-0 for the first four innings, and Cubs pitcher Jose Quintana had thrown four innings and allowed no hits.

But the Marlins opened up the floodgates in the fifth inning. Catcher Chad Wallach, who entered the game with zero hits on the season, sent a single into right, which scored Cameron Maybin and gave the Fish a 1-0 lead.

That hit would give Wallach the first RBI of his career. A few batters later, Derek Dietrich would bring Wallach home on an RBI single, which gave Miami a 2-0 lead.

Then, rookie third baseman Brian Anderson gave the Marlins a lead that they would never relinquish. Anderson brought three of his teammates home on a 3-RBI double, and while Anderson was thrown out stretching to third, the Marlins would lead 5-0 heading into the top of the sixth inning.

Peters would throw one more inning before his day was finished. Peters threw six innings, allowing six hits and zero runs. After Yadiel Rivera scored on a wild pitch in the sixth, the Marlins took a commanding 6-0 lead. After Peters was pulled, the trio of Drew Steckenrider, Tayron Guerrero, and Kyle Barraclough combined for three innings of work, and they allowed zero runs and only two hits.

The Cubs starter, Quintana, allowed six hits and all six runs, and was tagged with the loss. Both teams had eight hits apiece. The Marlins will get to take a crack at another World Series contender on Monday, when the Red Sox come to town for a two-game series.

In Game 1 on Monday, rookie Trevor Richards will be called up from the minors to make his first career start in the big leagues. Boston will go with Brian Johnson on the mound, and first pitch is scheduled for 7:10pm ET at Marlins Park.

Source: FanGraphs

Read below for the game thread from earlier.

Welcome to the game four thread! Don't forget to place your Icthyomancy picks (explainer below).

Attendance

Attendance is a big deal in Marlins baseball, like it or not. In each game, we will guess the attendance of the game, home or away, and the closest guess will be worth 2 points.

Individual Games

You can make your best prediction for game scores. A pass costs you nothing. Post your prediction of the score, and if it’s a direct hit (with the correct teams), that’s three points. If you pick the correct winner and by the actual number of runs, that’ll be two points. Predict which team wins, and that’s a single point.

Individual Predictions

These are our prop bets. You’re allowed to make up to two “outside the box” predictions for each contest. Points will be awarded based on the probability of something happening. If you’ve predicted something unfathomably rare (a no-hitter, pitcher hits two home runs, Justin Bour steals seven bases) and it comes true, that’s going to be a lot of points. Everyday things will be worth less. What the heck? The game is free - swing for the fences!

Steamer projections courtesy of Fangraphs

Matchup Summary:

The Cubs and Marlins come into this Easter Sunday having split a pair of extra-innings victories between them. Since the Cubbies won on Opening Day as well, however, the best the Fish can hope for today is a split.

Thread Question:

What are the chances of Dillon Peters sticking in the rotation for the whole season?