Heyward’s home run in 11th sends Marlins to second straight loss

Lefty José Quijada, freshly recalled from Triple-A prior to the contest, gave up a game-winning, walk-off solo home run to Jason Heyward, as the Cubs knocked off the Marlins Wednesday night at Wrigley Field, 3-2.

The Marlins were in almost this exact position Tuesday night. In that case, the Cubs’ Kris Bryant ended it on one swing of the bat, propelling Chicago to a 5-2 victory.

José Ureña gave the Marlins a decent chance to win this ballgame tonight. He worked seven innings against a tough Chicago lineup. Ureña surrendered plenty of hard contact, but was helped by solid defense from Miami teammates.

His only blemish on the night was in the fourth inning, following a leadoff walk with two straight singles, enabling the Cubs to grab a 2-1 lead. The positive from Ureña’s start was he was able to lower his overall ERA to 4.82.

Miami faced Kyle Hendricks, who tossed a complete game versus St. Louis in his last outing. Hendricks worked eight dominant innings. The score remained 2-1 until the Marlins were down to their final three outs. Neil Walker led off the ninth with a single down the first-base line. Starlin Castro, who broke an 0-for-29 slump Tuesday, produced a single to left, one of his three hits to carry the offense. After Steve Cishek’s wild pitch, Miguel Rojas drove home Isaac Galloway to make it 2-2.

Despite underwhelming stats overall, Rojas continues to demonstrate a strong understanding of situational hitting. That was crucial to forcing extra innings in this case.

Miami is now in the midst of a two-game losing skid, after a nice come-from-behind victory Monday night.

These are the types of losses the Marlins have to forget about in a hurry, and the ball club will look to do so Thursday afternoon. Miami’s scheduled starter is righty Trevor Richards. Richards—unlike rotation mates Caleb Smith, Pablo López, Sandy Alcantara and Ureña—is still desperately seeking his first victory of 2019. The Marlins will get a chance to salvage a four-game split with Yu Darvish on the mound, who in four career starts, has a dismal 6.75 ERA against them. The game will begin at 2:20 p.m. ET.

After that, the Marlins will fly east to open a three-game weekend set against the New York Mets.

Marlins vs. Cubs box score (MLB.com)

Fish Picks answer key

1. Hendricks
2. Over
3. Over
4. No
5. Cubs