Miami Marlins 6, Cubs 0: A Split for the Good Guys

With 10,428 in paid attendance on hand, the Miami Marlins blanked the Chicago Cubs, 6-0.

The Miami Marlins had earlier this weekend dismissed the director of ticket sales after opening day. Details were not forthcoming, so I’m not sure if it had anything to do with the Marlin Man fiasco. (see video above).

After giving Bryan Holaday the start yesterday, Miami put Chad Wallach back in the lineup to catch Dillon Peters. Miguel Rojas was due a well deserved break, and was replaced in the starting lineup by Yadiel Rivera. Rojas did come in to play first base for Garrett Cooper starting in the sixth.

Despite allowing eight baserunners, Peters kept Chicago scoreless through his six inning start. For the Cubs, Jose Quintana kept the Marlins hitless through four innings before allowing a crooked number in the fifth.

Cameron Maybin unleashed this web gem in the top of the second inning to send the Cubs to the bench scoreless.

The fifth would see Wallach open the scoring by driving home Maybin with his first hit of the season. Derek Dietrich then scored Wallach on an RBI-single as well. Brian Anderson then drove home his third, fourth, and fifth runs of the season with a bases clearing double. He got thrown out trying to stretch it into a triple.

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In the next inning, Wallach collected his second hit of the season and the game, then scored on a Quintana wild pitch. The resulting 6-0 score would remain through all nine innings, allowing the Fish to split with the highly regarded Cubbies at two games apiece.

A few things

• Dillon Peters now carries a 1.14 lifetime ERA within the confines of Marlins Park. He allowed two baserunners each in the first, the third, the fourth, and the fifth innings.
• Kyle Barraclough resembled more the guy who struck out 14 batters per nine in 2016 than did the guy who whiffed 10.5 per nine in 2017. He struck out two of the three batters he faced.
• After starting the season 0-for-10 with eight strikeouts, Chad Wallach was two-for-three with a walk and an RBI.
• Yadiel Rivera was one-for-four in his appearance, scoring a run and providing adequate defense at shortstop.

Heroes and Zeroes

Using the Wins Probability Added (WPA) metric, we can see who produced in the higher leverage situations. Both the good (the heroes) and the bad (the zeros) are represented here. When added together, the winning team (Miami in this case) will have a 50% WPA. Conversely, the losing team (Chicago) will have a -50% WPA.

Heroes

Dillon Peters +26.4%

Peters put 56-of-89 pitches over the plate through his six innings of work. He struck out two and kept the Cubs off the board despite allowing six hits and a walk. Only three of his 11 balls put into play were of the fly ball variety.

Brian Anderson +11.8%

Anderson batted cleanup for the Marlins. He grounded out to end the first with a man on first base (-2.2%). He drew a two-out walk in the fourth (+1.5%). The biggest thing he did was his three-RBI double in the fifth (+12.6%), although he was thrown out trying to leg it into a triple. Later, he struck out with a man on first to end the seventh (-0.1%).

Derek Dietrich +7.0%

Dietrich batted second for Miami, and flew out to center for the second out of the first (-1.5%). He led off the fourth with another flyout (-2.7%). In the fifth, he collected a two-out RBI with a single to right (+11.3%). Dietrich flew out for the second out of the seventh (-0.0%).

Zeroes

Victor Caratini -8.9%

Caratini batted sixth for the Cubs, and flew out to open the second inning (-2.3%). He grounded out with a man on second for the second out of the fourth (-5.1%). In the sixth, he led off by flying out to left (-1.0%), and closed his night with a swinging strikeout (-0.4%) in the eighth.

Javier Baez -10.5%

Baez batted eighth, and started his night by flying out to right (-1.1%) to end the second. He failed on a sacrifice bunt in the fourth (-9.0%), getting Kyle Schwarber thrown out at home. In the sixth, he grounded out to end the inning (-0.3%). He added a swinging strikeout to lead off the ninth (-0.2%).

Jose Quintana -26.5%

Quintana started for the Cubs and allowed all six runs in six innings. All of the runs were earned, on four walks and six hits. He struck out two Marlins.

Next: Six Marlins to Watch

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