MIAMI — Brian Anderson drove in four runs and Magneuris Sierra hit a go-ahead single to back up a strong start from Zach Thompson in the Miami Marlins’ 5-4 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday at loanDepot park.
It’s the Marlins’ third consecutive win and improves them to 50-67 on the season, a mark that could have them tied for fourth place in the NL East pending the final score of the Atlanta Braves-Washington Nationals game.
Sierra’s single to left field capped a two-run rally in the eighth after the Marlins’ bullpen gave up the lead in the top half of the inning. Jazz Chisholm Jr. led off the inning with a double and a pair of fielding errors from Cubs shortstop Sergio Alcantara allowed both Lewis Brinson and Anderson to reach base while simultaneously allowing Chisholm to get to third and ultimately score the game-tying run. Sierra, who entered the game as a defensive replacement, then sent a 1-2 pitch through the right side to score Brinson from second.
Anderson hit a three-run home run in the sixth to avoid the shutout and back up a solid start from Thompson.
The 27-year-old righty tied a career high with six innings pitched and held the Cubs (52-67) to one run on four hits while striking out three on 72 pitches (48 strikes).
Thompson faced the minimum through three innings, with a double play in the second erasing the lone baserunner he allowed (Ian Happ on a single) the first time through Chicago’s lineup.
But Patrick Wisdom’s single to right that scored Rafael Ortega in the fourth drove in the only run of the game before Anderson’s home run — a 403-foot shot to left field — in the sixth.
