MIAMI _ Since a disastrous 2019 debut, Yu Darvish has taken small steps toward respectability.
Darvish continued his upward trend Monday night by striking out a season-high eight and working out of two jams as the Cubs earned a 7-2 win over the Marlins before 9,888 fans at Marlins Park.
All uniformed personnel on both sides wore jersey No. 42 in observance of the 16th annual Jackie Robinson Day.
Darvish pitched a season-high 5 2/3 innings and limited the Marlins to four hits in a 96-pitch outing. Darvish, making his fourth start, mixed his pitches effectively when he needed to. He struck out Brian Anderson on a 96-mph pitch before running into trouble in the first but whiffed Austin Dean on an 84-mph slider with the bases loaded to end the threat.
Darvish struck out Curtis Granderson on a 76-mph curve to open the fifth and whiffed Miguel Rojas on a slider with runners at second and third to end the inning.
Darvish was pulled after hitting Lewis Brinson with a pitch. Left-hander Kyle Ryan struck out pinch hitter Rosell Herrera to end the sixth.
Darvish walked four, including two to open the second with a 3-0 lead. But his performance was a marked improvement over his seven walks in 2 2/3 innings against the Rangers on March 28.
The Cubs took advantage of Trevor Richards' wildness to score three runs in the first. David Bote capped the rally with a two-run double.
The Cubs added two more runs in the fifth as Kris Bryant and Javier Baez doubled and replay review overturned an inning-ending force play at second base.
Willson Contreras ripped his team-leading sixth home run, which easily cleared the wall in left-center in the seventh and helped secure the Cubs' third win in their last four games.
