CHICAGO _ For all that has gone wrong for the Miami Marlins' infield _ injuries to three of four starters, plus the primary backup, and an underwhelming performance from fill-in third baseman Derek Dietrich _ the double-play combination of Dee Gordon and J.T. Riddle has helped drive the club's fight for relevancy.
Each had multi-hit nights in the Marlins' 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs, Gordon scoring a pair of runs and Riddle driving in a pair. Since May 10, the day Adeiny Hechavarria landed on the disabled list after a recurrence of his left oblique issue, Gordon is batting .300, Riddle, .299.
They made an impact often Wednesday as the Marlins avoided a sweep. Gordon began the game with a triple, scoring on Christian Yelich's sacrifice fly. He scored the eventual winning run in the seventh inning when he lined a single to center, stole second, and scored from there after strike three to Giancarlo Stanton got away from catcher Miguel Montero.
Riddle's single to center in the fifth plated a pair, Dietrich and Tyler Moore, and gave the Marlins three runs in the inning _ as many as they scored in the first two games of the series combined.
The Marlins bullpen grinded through the final three innings before closer A.J. Ramos came in the eighth and got his first save of four or more outs since Sept. 17, 2015.
David Phelps allowed one run, on a homer to Kyle Schwarber, and two other baserunners in the seventh. Nick Wittgren started the eighth but also allowed one run _ Schwarber again, this time on a double _ before Ramos came in early.
A pair of solo shots provided middle-inning for the Marlins. J.T. Realmuto homered to left in the fourth, and Marcell Ozuna to center in the fifth.
Ozuna's blast, on a 2-1 middle-in fastball against John Lackey, landed an estimated 446 feet from home plate, a pretty enough path for Ozuna to admire momentarily before beginning his trip around the bases.
Right-hander Jose Urena allowed three runs on three hits in five innings. He struck out five and walked three.
Anthony Rizzo had the big blow, a two-out, two-run double in the third inning. The rally started when a running Ozuna dropped a catchable fly ball in deep left field.
Ian Happ added the Cubs' other run with a fifth-inning home run to left-center.
