Our Noticias, 10/2/20: Game 2 re-do

Well that was weird

The Marlins and Cubs didn’t play on Thursday, and it is difficult to understand why. The official postponement announcement from Major League Baseball, sent about one hour prior to first pitch, cited “forecasted inclement conditions” that never really arrived. The scene was seemingly beautiful at the scheduled first pitch time, and though there was on-and-off rain later in the afternoon, it never intensified to the degree typically needed to interrupt a game.

Here are the lineups that each team originally posted for Game 2. Expect them to be almost identical for Friday’s re-do at 2:08 p.m. ET.

If you care about international recognition, then I suppose the decision can be spun into a position. The Marlins will now get a standalone game instead of one sandwiched in between two other Wild Card Series matchups.

Probable starters: Friday—RHP Sixto Sánchez (3.46 ERA, 3.50 FIP in 39.0 IP) vs. RHP Yu Darvish (2.01 ERA, 2.23 FIP in 76.0 IP); Saturday at 3:30 p.m. ET, if necessary—RHP Pablo López (3.61 ERA, 3.09 FIP in 57.1 IP) vs. LHP Jon Lester (5.16 ERA, 5.14 FIP in 61.0 IP)

Center fielder Starling Marte suffered a non-displaced fracture of his left pinkie finger in Wednesday’s opener. Although the injury itself won’t be fully healed for the foreseeable future, the Fish are hopeful that the extra day allows the swelling on his finger to subside, making it easier for him to play through it. Looking forward to a potential win-take-all Game 3, it’s now increasingly realistic that Sandy Alcantara would be available to pitch in relief.

Walk-off links

• ZiPS projections give the Marlins a 69.6% chance of advancing to the NLCS. They were significant underdogs—37.3% chance—entering the Wild Card Series.
• Christian Cevallos produced a Game 1 highlights package.
• Miami fans are, understandably, the most confident that they’ve been all year (sign up for future SB Nation Reacts surveys here).
• The rival Braves, who were the National League’s No. 2 overall seed, shut out the Reds in back-to-back games en route to a series sweep. The Fish will face Atlanta in the NLDS if they advance.
• Why Sixto Sánchez and other Dominican pitchers are so infatuated with following in Pedro Martínez’s footsteps, from Anthony Castrovince of MLB.com.
• Thank you to everybody who has already purchased a Bottom Feeders t-shirt. Plenty more still in stock!

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