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The Marlins’ magical season continues. The Fish beat the Cubs 5-1 in Game 1 of the Wild Card round of the playoffs, riding a 6.2-inning, one-run gem from Sandy Alcantara and pouncing on a couple of Kyle Hendricks mistakes in the seventh for two home runs that accounted for all Miami scoring, courtesy of Corey Dickerson and Jesús Aguilar.
There are 14 teams still alive for the 2020 World Series title. The Marlins are one of them. https://t.co/UmhH7ZtwXr
— Fish Stripes (@fishstripes) September 30, 2020
And check this out, from the above recap:
The Marlins’ five-run outburst in the seventh inning was the first time they had scored five or more runs in a single playoff inning since the eighth inning on October 14, 2003 against the Chicago Cubs—the Steve Bartman inning.
Might there be similar “destiny” in the cards for Miami? If there is, it won’t come without first traversing adversity. Starling Marte broke his finger.
Marlins outfielder Starling Marte suffered a non-displaced fracture of his left pinkie after being hit by a pitch in the ninth inning, sources tell me and @JesseRogersESPN. There is optimism that Marte could continue playing through it.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) September 30, 2020
- Speaking of adversity, Fish Stripes newcomer Nicole Cahill discusses the longer-term variety the Marlins and we the fans have dealt with these past 17 years.
- Prior to the game, the club announced its 28-man roster and taxi squad for the series.
The Miami Marlins today announced the club’s 28-man roster and taxi squad for the Wild Card Series. The club added INF Lewin Díaz, LHP Braxton Garrett and RHP Nick Neidert to playoff roster, and transferred LHP Dan Castano, RHP José Ureña and RHP Nick Vincent to taxi squad. pic.twitter.com/C65AQs0Ogq
— Marlins Communications (@MarlinsComms) September 30, 2020
Game 2 of the series begins at 2:08 PM Eastern. Cy Young frontrunner Yu Darvish (8-3, 2.01 ERA) will face future Cy frontrunner winner Sixto Sánchez (3-2, 3.46 ERA). Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com notes how Sixto leads a generation of Dominican players inspired by Pedro Martinez, and Pedro himself dubbed Sánchez a mini version of himself. Should be fun to watch. Full Game 2 preview and FAQ here.