Stat Wrap 6/23: Marlins, Stanton Beat Cubs 4-2

Last Saturday, Marlins starter Wei-Yin Chen allowed 6 ER in a single inning.  In the five games since, Marlins starting pitchers haven’t even allowed 6 ER in five entire starts.

Holding the MLB-best Chicago Cubs to just to two of those ER tonight across 7 IP, Chen helped lead the Miami Marlins to a 4-2 victory Thursday night at Marlins Park- thanks to a vintage performance from slugger Giancarlo Stanton.

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Two scoreless innings of relief backed up Chen’s best start in three weeks.  However, they weren’t without their share of excitement, as Cubbies reached base under their watch.  Kyle Barraclough walked two before shutting things down, naturally with a pair of strikeouts; Barraclough continues to confound and astound with his polar opposite BB/9 and K/9 rates in 2016.  David Phelps did Antonio Alfonseca proud with one of the more terrifying saves you’ll ever see; two walks, a hit, and a runner advancing balk later, the save was in the books.

Stanton had his best game in over a month, going 2 for 4 with 2 RBI on the day; that included his 14th HR of the season.  But while the Marlins slumbering superstar slugger is clearly starting to come out of hibernation, teammate Marcell Ozuna seems loathe to relinquish the title of clubhouse home-run king.  Ozuna crushed his 16th, while J.T. Realmuto also delivered with a late RBI and a stolen base.

And now we Stat Wrap:

• Ichiro Watch: Seems to be exactly what he did.  Good for him, could use the rest.
• Chen’s Line: 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 K, 0 BB
• David Phelps picked up his third save- after loading the bases.
• Giancarlo Stanton went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs.
• Those RBIs were the game-tying and game-winning runs.
• He also hit his 14th HR of 2016.
• Marcell Ozuna hit his 16th HR.
• J.T. Realmuto and Miguel Rojas each stole a base; for Rojas, his first of the year.
• The only pitchers in baseball with more than 10 IP under their belts that have a better K/9 rate than Kyle Barraclough are both Yankees relievers.  But in terms of BB/9, only nine are worse.